


We Are All Falling

by mamamittens



Series: Just Tumbling Through [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A little late right now to warn about angst, Agender Frisk, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Always, Angst because of Genocide, Asshole parents, Body Horror, But self-defense murder does show up to, Dear god it is not pretty, Drama, Frisk/(OC or reader) as family, Genocide, Genocide is here because this is Undertale, Gore, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Murder, Oops, Pacifist play through but only reluctantly, People fights, Sass, So check yourself before you wreck yourself, Time Loop, Violence, Well - Freeform, You Have Been Warned, and aware, because reasons, because sans is conscious, but hey better late than never, implied/referenced child abandonment, may have trigger in later chapters, non-mute Frisk, puns, rated for language, rather than just straight up Chara murdering people left and right, self aware characters while i'm at it, self insert if you roll that way but the OC otherwise, so much foreshadowing, so video game violence as well, tags will be added as needed, time travel but no British, video game mechanics are present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-11 03:19:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 70,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5611960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamamittens/pseuds/mamamittens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If someone had told me that my life would be flooded with puns, time travel, and assholes--I would never have believed the first two. But, lo and behold, here I am. Son of a Bitch. Whelp, it's up to an eight year old kid and an aggressive ginger to save this god forsaken time loop and all these punk ass bitches of the Underground.</p>
<p>Welcome to the New Undertale bitches,<br/>I'd apologize for the name, but apparently no one can give anything a decent fucking name down here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wild Animals Should be Avoided At All Costs, Even to the Bitter End

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so the main character is rather open ended as far as gender goes, but since I don't plan for any romance (sorry sinners, i'm well aware of the guilty pleasure that Sans/reader is) to happen with them, you can feel free to project if you want without suddenly thinking in terms of a different gender. They also curse a lot and have a set description, but considering you chose to read fanfiction, i'm going to assume you know how to pick and chose what parts of canon to ignore. Frisk also talks, which may or may not be a problem, but considering their background I thought having a special education in ASL would be a bit much. Expect puns. Even the title is a pun, if you think about it. Also, if you see "--words of some sort--" somewhere in the middle of the page, that's a time lapse. Just an FYI.

   The air was still and the scent of flowers was heavy in the air. My eyes snapped open as I took in the familiar weight of Frisk on my chest.

         “Son of a bitch.”

                                                --Time waits for no one but the main character—

            To be honest, this shit started a very long time ago. You see, monsters aren’t actually imaginary demons of the night. About a thousand years ago humans and monsters even lived side by side…. Until some punk ass bitch started a war which eventually led to the defeat of the monsters and human mages sealing them in Mount Ebott. Now, clearly, I wasn’t around at the time, so in a relative sense this actually started on a Tuesday. Around four years ago my parents skipped town. Nothing to shed tears about, they were assholes and Frisk and I have gotten on just fine without them.

Me? I’m now eighteen, have been for three months, and Frisk is eight. My little agender cherub is an adorable little shit with hazel eyes and light brown hair cut into a bob. Half the time Frisk squints at people, but so far it isn’t because they need glasses, thankfully. Me, on the other hand, I’m about five feet and six inches of sass and rage. I didn’t luck out with the straight hair gene, I got more curls than can be safely contained at any reasonable length. If I didn’t need every extra year I could get, I’d wear a fro and tell the world to fuck off, but I actually looked just shy of twenty three with my hair around my shoulders, so whatever. The peculiar shade of red has also gotten me more “soulless ginger” jokes than my short temper can handle. I also needed big ass glasses to see shit properly, which doesn’t exactly give me an intimidating appearance. Not that my wardrobe helps any.

You see, when you’re fourteen with a four year old younger sibling, people usually don’t rush to give you jobs. Particularly when the nearest town isn’t aware that your dead-beat parents have skipped town with no intention of returning. So, you pick up a few tricks, but luckily some clothing was left behind. Mostly a seriously ridiculous amount of flannel button ups, overalls, and stripped sweaters that didn’t actually fit anyone currently living in the house, for whatever reason. I tended to set up traps and sell fur as well as carving shit. When things got a little rough I put my temper to good use and got into a few intense fights for cash in the city. It was December so most animals were starting hibernate on Mount Ebott, since snow usually came more around the New Year. Frisk and I was making one last check of the traps in the woods for small woodland creatures. Frisk never really liked killing them, but they were well aware that we’d never make it through winter without the meat. Frisk was wearing a blue and purple striped sweater with thick jeans and worn sneakers. I was wearing oversized overalls with a red and black flannel shirt and combat boots. My hair was taking no shit today, and as such it went every which way in wild curls, the dusky red tone contrasting with the light tan and small scars that I got from various fights. Sure, some of them may have been frustrating fights carving wood, but whatever. Most were from legit battles with grown men twice my size. We were almost at the first trap when it happened. Old Smith.

Now, Old Smith is this really big boar that’s lived on the mountain for as long as I can remember. Many a trapper has tried and failed to catch this fine piece of pork. Weighing over two hundred pounds, this bitch is big enough for Frisk to ride into battle. He’s a smart boar, usually keeps to himself, but a wild hair burrowed into his ass that day. By his reaction to seeing us, I assume the wild hair was particularly red and curly, considering the fury at which he charged our asses.

“RUN BITCH, RUN!” Old Smith wasn’t fucking around with dumb ass humans today. No Sir. Naturally, we charge up the mountain like…. Well, like Old Smith was on our ass. When Frisk started to flag behind, I hauled their ass into my arms and booked it. Now, there’s this one part of Mount Ebott that I usually avoid, which is this cave with a hole in it, but it also happens to be the only cave where animals never go. Even Old Smith on a rampage. All I have to do is duck inside and make sure not to slip—god damnit! Now, normally, this is the part in a story where there’s this vague ending like “and we slipped into darkness”, but let’s get one thing straight. I never just slip into something. I do magnificent backflips and stick the landing. Because I’m a boss like that.

Of course, I assume I stuck the landing, seeing as how my next conscious thought was all the way at the bottom. Fuck my life


	2. Eat Your Greens Aggressively

The air was still and the scent of flowers was heavy in the air. My eyes snapped open as I took in the familiar weight of Frisk on my chest.

            “Son of a bitch.”

            There must have been some sort of ambient lighting, because I could only see a little pin-prick of light far above me. Frisk was pass out on my chest and a bed of flowers softened our landing. At least, I assume they did since I didn’t have anything broken. Sore? Hell yeah, but nothing I haven’t handled before. The rock walls seemed carved and I could see a doorway faintly in the darkness. A small murmur of noise alerted me of Frisk’s awakening.

            “Tumble…? Did you fall?”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about, bitch. I didn’t fall…. I just glided downward with a high velocity.” Don’t look into their eyes. _They see the truth_.

            “Yeah…. Can we go?” and with a huff, we were off. Of course, if nothing happened after that, there would be too much mercy in this universe. Not five minutes later, I thought I was lucid-dreaming and Frisk left on one of those damn toddler shows that merged with my dream world abruptly.

            “Howdy! I’m Flowey the Flower!” it was a tiny fucking yellow flower, “Gosh, you two aren’t from around here, are you? You must be lost!” with a face. At this point I wasn’t sure what to think. Mostly somewhere between _is this what acid feel like_ and _how about no_?

            “Nah, we’re just wondering around.” _It has a fucking face. What the hell am I on?_

            “Oh… well then, I guess little ole me will just have to show you how things work down here!” the world phased out and suddenly there was an honest to god video game screen in front of me. It was oddly empty save two health bars. Under my name was about 275 HP and Frisk had 20. A small glowing red heart appeared before Frisk and a slightly bigger violet heart beat in front of me. “These are your SOULs. They are the culmination of your being! To get stronger, you need LOVE, and LOVE is shared through… “friendliness pellets”. Try and collect some, I can share!” the flower winked as a row of white pellets appeared behind it. The hell they’re “friendliness pellets”. I know drugs when I see them. I easily bumped Frisk and I out of the way. Hell to the no, Demon Weed.

            “No thanks, I already know my ABCs. C’mon Frisk, let’s go—”

            “No wait! You missed the bulle—pellets, how will you get stronger?” Flowey seemed awfully strained for a helpful weed.

            “By eating my greens.” I sneered at Flowey meaningfully. The cute smile turned into a god awful sneer. Fuck man, plants should not have faces!

            “You know what’s going on, don’t you? Well, let me illuminate something for you! Here, it’s K I L L O R B E K I L L E D!” a circle of bullets spawned around us and steadily grew closer. _That evil son of a bitch_! My soul frantically tried to cover Frisk’s when suddenly, Flowey stopped. A glob of fire materialized and _knocked his bitch ass into the shadows_. _Can I get a hallelujah?_

            “What a horrible creature, terrorizing such poor innocent youths.” The feminine voice belonged to a really tall and furry woman that kind of reminded me of a goat. The world came back and our souls retreated to our bodies. Her robes were purple and had this strange symbol, kind of like a reversed triforce and something with wings. Her white fur was thick and her eyes were black. She was pretty, in a very… furry way.

            “Woah, thanks ma’m.” always be polite to the fire bender. Always. _Always._ She seemed surprised at something, likely our raggedy ass appearance, but hey, if you’re broke, you can’t buy shit.

            “It is nothing, my child. I am Toriel, the Guardian of the Ruins. You are lucky that I chose to search the Ruins for fallen Humans today. It has been a very long time since Humans have been down here.”

            “Oh, well I guess we’re just really lucky then! I’m Frisk, and this is my older sibling, Tumble! We fell.” Frisk said cheekily, the little shit. I narrowed my eyes at them but they only smiled up at me. _They’re lucky they’re so cute_.

            “Hello Tumble and Frisk. Follow me and I will guide you through the Ruins.” _This is a weird ass day with some crazy as hell characters…. Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to get any better._


	3. Always be a Pillar of Good Influence

The first room we encounter with Toriel is this mostly empty room with a two sets of stairs leading to an empty doorway. In-between the two stairs is a small pile of leaves with an odd sparkle in the middle. Toriel walks up the right stairway while I look closely at the leaf pile.

The beauty of the Ruins that has endured time itself fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            …The hell was that? Seriously, the fuck?! I got a bad feeling about this place all of a sudden. Frisk gently tugged me along to follow Toriel while my mind worked on autopilot. A part of my mind was registering Toriel talking about how puzzles are a thing with Monsters and how they will attack Humans if they don’t actually want to. I let Frisk take the lead while I tried to put together what the hell was going on. Frisk was a smart kid, they know what they are capable of.

            When we got past the weird door with buttons on the floor that Toriel went ahead and activated there was a big room. Toriel asked us to pull levers that she had even bothered to label. Weird. I did notice the allusion to never leaving, by the way. Really ominous.

            It all came crashing down on me when Toriel asked us to talk to the dummy. The world faded out and the familiar box came up. This time, we had options. FIGHT, ACT, ITEMS, and MERCY. Son of a bitch. We’re in a video game. Indulging Toriel, I decided to strike up a conversation with the dummy. ACTàDummyàTALK.

            “So… you come here often?” okay, so apparently talking to inanimate objects immediately means flirting. Good to know my seduction skill will be getting some training down here. Dummy’s name was suddenly yellow and Frisk immediately went and MERCY’d the guy. Frisk looked towards Toriel with a hopeful expression on their face. Toriel, for her part, seemed unsure about how to feel about my methods but ultimately settled with pleased.

            “Very good my child, all you need to remember about fighting is to stall for time. I will come to settle it shortly.” Well then, that sounds awfully co-dependent. The next room seemed to be empty but when we followed Toriel into the next room the world suddenly faded away. The familiar screen appeared and a frog of some kind suddenly appeared. To be honest, I don’t think this dumb ass knows what he’s doing here. I could fuck him up but checking his stats reveals an attack of 4 and defense of five. My own stats being an attack of 138 and defense being 26. Fuck. I can’t even sneeze at this bitch in good conscious. That’s okay, because Toriel slid in and gave a glare that could curdle milk at the frog and the fight quickly ended.

            I’d like to say that the next room’s puzzle was quickly solved by my epic knowledge but Toriel nervously glanced at the spikes and quickly took Frisk’s hand, leading us through the spikes like a small train.

            “Puzzles seem too dangerous right now…” was her only reply until the next room, which was just a long corridor, “I must ask something very difficult of you two. Please walk across this room by yourselves. Forgive me, my child!” and that bitch was gone. Difficult for who? I am a grown ass adult, I think I can make it across this big ass room.

            “Tumble…” Frisk quietly said, their eyes glancing up at me in concern, “Can you give me a promise?”

            “What? This creepy ass room not scary enough without an ominous promise?” Frisk giggled a little and shook their head.

            “No! Promise me that you won’t fight anyone down here. You’re too strong!” I gave an indignant huff to that.

            “Excuse you, but do I look like a murderer to you? I couldn’t even sneeze at that frog without risking its life at this point. Punk ass bitch.” Frisk stared up at me hopefully before I gave in with a sigh, “Fine. Pinky promise it is then. I, by the unbreakable power of a pinky promise, swear not to knowingly attack any living creature in the underground. Happy, you little shit?” Frisk just gave a happy hum as they curled their pinky around mine before dashing off into the darkness.

            It wasn’t exactly a surprise when, at the end of the corridor, Toriel was hiding behind a pillar the whole time. It was actually kind of sweet, considering how lacking our lives were with any positive adult influence. As it turns out, it was a clever ruse to test our independence. Apparently Toriel needed to do something and didn’t want to leave us without being sure that we could make it on our own down here. She gave us a phone to call her on while she ran her errands and left us in the next room to wait for her. Yeah, okay. I handed the phone to Frisk and let them do whatever while we walked through the Ruins.

            We complemented frogs, attempted to console weird floating things, and all the while Frisk kept up a steady stream of phone calls to Toriel for whatever reason.

            “Hello my child, did you need something?”

            “No, I just wanted to say hello.”

            “Oh…. Well then…. Hello! I hope that suffices.”

            “…Ah, yes! Did you need something?”

            “Can I call you mom?” I looked over at Frisk standing in the middle of a pile of leaves.

            “Hey! You have to do it right! Call her Goat Mom!”

            “…Goat Mom? Uh, well, if that’s what you want…” yeah, Goat Mom is the best mom~!

            I was trying to figure out how the hell a Spider Division of the Girls Scouts was created when I heard this next bit.

            “Hey, Goat Mom? Did you sit in a pile of sugar? ‘Cause you have a sweet ass~!” I raised this child. Somehow. God damnit. On the plus side, Nabstablook was the most adorable ghost I had ever seen in my entire life.

            “Keep it classy, sexy Nabs~!” I called out to the retreating ghost. This whole pacifist thing was actually really fun! Needless to say, by the time we made it to this big ass tree, Toriel was on her way to get us.

            “Oh dear, it was terribly irresponsible of me to leave you alone just to surprise you!” as it turns out, all that happened because Toriel wanted to make us a Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie. A familiar sparkle in a pile of leaves received only my ire.

The cute house and Goat Mom’s continued presence filled me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            The hell it does! Stop putting weird thoughts in my head, fucking save points!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I just wanted to briefly cap up the reason for a couple of things. First off, Tumble, as they are called, is somewhat gender neutral but they are female in my mind. The reason their soul isn't DETERMINATION and red is because I figured the odds of both Frisk and Tumble being filled with DETERMINATION was pretty small. That, and considering Tumble's personality so far, DETERMINATION is the least of their defining characteristics. I almost settle with yellow for JUSTICE as an ironic thing (you know, like "I'll kick your ass, because it's the right thing and you piss me off!") but ultimately, the ability to weather a bad situation is Tumble's defining personality. PERSERVERANCE and DETERMINATION are actually close cousins. Both keep going, but DETERMINATION is characteristically unable to stop moving forward, but PERSERVERANCE is able to stop and take in a situation. COURAGE was almost a thing, but Tumble doesn't do things because they're scared and they can move past it. There is a method to their madness, even if it is really aggressive. Tumble and Frisk's education will also be discussed in the next chapter with Toriel. Fair warning, I don't plan on Frisk making the journey with Tumble. This will also be explained. Expect conversation divergence a little bit. Recitation gets old after a while. Also, as for Tumble's stats... I set up the stats to be somewhat believable considering Frisk's in relation to being twice as young and not involved in fighting rings with some regularity. Fun fact, the Attack and Defense are also proportional to the HP according to the Stat chart I found on wiki. Genocide Frisk won't have an easy time fighting Tumble monster style, forget about human style. That will also be discussed later, both Genocide Frisk and the differences between styles of fighting.


	4. Play Nice

As it turned out, Toriel only had one spare bed, so Frisk and I had to bunk together. Not that it was an issue. Frisk was such a fucking cuddle bug. What? Okay, so maybe my bad ass self is also a cuddle bug. What of it? So, after a refreshing nap, I found Toriel in the living room reading a book about snails. Goat Mom looked so domestic sitting in front of the fire like that.

            “Hey, Goat Mom! Thanks for putting us up for the night, but I gotta ask, how do we get back above ground?” Toriel looked conflicted for a moment before shaking her head.

            “Tumble, I will tell you this only because I know you are an adult and capable of making the proper decision… you know of how Monsters were sealed underground, yes? What keeps us down here is a Barrier. The only way to take down the Barrier is with seven human SOULs. So far… Asgore has six. I am unsure if a human can pass through the Barrier, though technically a Human SOUL is much stronger than a Monster’s SOUL, it should be possible. Monsters only wish to be free, but to do so would require either Frisk or you to die. I was unable to stop the previous six children from passing through… I beg of you, please stay here where it is safe! We can hunt bugs and make pie! I am already drawing up a plan for your education, as it is my wish to be a teacher one day, it is no hardship for me. Please, Tumble, stay here…” Toriel seemed close to tears as she looked up at me. Ouch. Damn, the feels Goat Mom brings me!

            “Toriel… Ugh, I’m not very good with this sort of thing.” I shifted for a moment, my mind reeling, “Okay, we need to talk. Toriel, you should know some things, first off. As far as education is concerned, Frisk is in fifth grade. I’ve been taking the occasional online class for a nearby college for the past couple of years. We’re a bit ahead of the curve because we were homeschooled and there’s not much else to do when you live in the woods. Though it is tempting to just stay here, I can’t just leave it at that without looking into it… I’d like to leave Frisk here with you while I travel to the Barrier to see if I can go through. If I can, Frisk and I can go, if not, then at least I tried. I can call you and Frisk with the phone you gave us every night. Trust me, I can make it through just fine.” _especially considering all the monsters so far have been punk ass bitches_.

            “Child…” Frisk stumbled into the room, rubbing their eyes sleepily.

            “Frisk, I’m going to go on an adventure and I need you to keep Goat Mom company. You are to stay here. Here. Got it Frisk?” I asked carefully. Something told me that cursing around Toriel would end badly for me.

            “Don’t worry, sexy momma, Tumble can do it. You promise to come back, right Tumble? You will keep your promise, right?” you sneaky little…

            “Very well, since I cannot stop the both of you, I may as well keep at least one of you safe. Let me ensure you are prepared for you journey, Tumble.” Goat Mom walked through the house and gathered various items. I noticed she packed extra clothes, food, and extra batteries. I embraced Frisk for a bit, trying to reassure the both of us that it would be okay. Frisk clutched at my flannel shirt before slowly letting go. Goat Mom presented a pair of warm gloves, a warm coat that fell to my knees in the same shade as her robes, a hat that might be able to weigh down my hair, and a violet scarf.

            “Thank you, Goat Mom. I’ll make sure to call you guys at least once every day. Frisk, be good for Goat Mom. And stop flirting with her. You can call her Goat Mom, and you can flirt, but you can’t do both. It’s a little weird. Got that, bean sprout?” Frisk nodded with DETERMINATION. Wait, what? Just…. Just ignore it.

            “I would provide a map, but I’m afraid it is mostly a straight shoot through Snowdin, past the Hotlands, and through the Core to the castle where Asgore awaits. He is a weak pushover, it should not be difficult to convince him not to harm you. Past him is the Barrier. I pray you find the answers you seek safely, my child. Come, I will show you the way out.” Ouch, is there some beef between Toriel and Asgore?

            “O-Okay, Goat Mom, watch out for Frisk, okay? Frisk… stop flirting with Goat Mom.” I gave Goat Mom a hug as we stood in front of the heavy doors in the basement. Coat and winter wear all properly attached, even the beanie that miraculously fit in a majority of my curls, and backpack safely secured. The phone was safely tucked into the inner jacket pocket, right above my heart. It was only after the heavy doors closed that I saw that fucking demonic weed spring up.

            “Oh, so you think you’re so special, sparing Monsters and convincing your sibling to stay behind? I am the Prince of this place’s future! Or I was until you two came along and took my power. You know the one. The ability to SAVE and LOAD… even to RESET.” I narrowed my eyes at him and sneered.

            “You touch Frisk and I will end you, fucking weed!”

            “Shesh, calm down~. I don’t plan on committing murder. Yet. This is so much more I N T E R E S T I N G…” and with that creepy as hell moment, the fucking weed burrowed back into the earth. Punk ass bitch. I walked through, making sure to dig my foot into the spot Flowey disappeared, and entered the cold ass snow. Snowdin here I come.

            The silence was almost deafening as I walked along the path. Hm. Seems a little fresh with tracks. I wonder who comes out all this way? I stepped over a large stick without a second thought until, about ten steps later, a loud snap broke the silence. I whirled around but no one was there. Just a deliberately broken branch. If some fucking asshole is playing with me, I ain’t afraid to smack a bitch. I slowly turned back around and kept walking, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on my back. I was just in front of this rickety ass bridge when I hear the son of a bitch that had been stalking me, right behind me.

            “H E Y  P A L,  D O N ‘ T  Y O U  K N O W  H O W  T O  G R E E T  A  F R I E N D?“ yeah bitch, friends like you get the pimp hand real quick, “T U R N  A R O U N D  A N D  S H A K E  M Y  H A N D…” something about the way this dick talks pisses me off. An accent?

            “Well, I don’t know. Friends like you usually just get a knuckle sandwich. Why, are you hungry for my culinary masterpiece, bitch?” I said as I turned around, my fist already clenched right. And there, standing like it’s perfectly normal, was a skeleton. A bit big boned, but just about my own height, dark eye sockets holding a single pin prick of light like pseudo-pupils. His blue parka was unzipped, revealing a plain white t-shirt, and he wore what looked like black basketball shorts and pink house shoes. His left hand was outstretch in an offer of friendship or some bullshit. I narrowed my eyes at him briefly before letting out a huff.

            “My apologies, my nerves are a little on edge. My name is Will Tumble, a _pleasure_ _to meet you_.” I said, trying to hold back my temper as I purposefully shook his left hand. Only to be greeting by the rude sound of a whoopee cushion from his palm.

            “heh, classic joke. i’m sans the skeleton. be careful not to fall for my charming personality~” that little….

            “Who? Me? Nah, I have better standards than to fall for a little _shit_ like you. A _skele-ton_ of better standards, in fact.” I narrowed my eyes at him in a challenge. His grin seemed to become sharper as his eye sockets literally narrowed.

            “nice. hey, you’re a human right? what a coincidence. i’m actually on patrol right now to be on the lookout for humans, but i’m not very interested in catching one… my brother papyrus on the other hand, he’s a human hunting _fanatic_. actually, i think i see him coming right now.” He looked at me in consideration before smirking again, “come on, i got an idea. go on ahead and cross the bridge. pap built the gate a little too big to actually keep anyone out.” I raised my eyebrow at him but walked across the bridge anyway. Across the way was a small sentry station, a very familiarly shaped lamp, and two piles of snow.

            “uh, i think the lamps a bit too small for you, but you can hide behind the st-“

          “SANS! IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVNE’T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES!” and just like that, I the bad ass that I am, did not, in fact, dash behind the sentry station like a normal human being. No. Of course not. That’s… _dull_. I dove head first into the snow and quickly disappeared. A miracle considering how nothing about me was. Snow. Fucking. White. I heard a rather deep chuckle from where I recall Sans last being. Fuck you, god damn anatomical model of an asshole.

            “hey pap. what’s rattling your bones?”

          “SANS! YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR HUMANS! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?”

               “just, *pft*, looking at this pile of snow. it’s kinda interesting. wanna take a closer look at it?” bitch, I will cut you with a bone saw. Wait, pinkie promise. Fuck. I see this journey is going to be a test of patience and bullshit. God damnit.

            “NO SANS! I’M SUPPOSED TO BE ON GUARD TO CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN UNDYNE WILL HAVE TO LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD AND I WILL BECOME POPULAR!” fuck, this bitch is a cinnamon roll, isn’t he? Fuck, now I couldn’t beat the shit out of him, even without the pinkie promise.

            “hey, maybe this snow pile will help you with that, pap.” I will make like a giant and grind your fucking bones to make my—fucking hell, Frisk! You test me at every turn, and you’re not even present, I swear.

            “SANS! YOU ARE SUCH A LAZY BONES! YOU EVEN NAPPED ALL LAST NIGHT!”

               “that’s called sleeping, pap.”

          “EXCUSES! I WORK HARD EVERY DAY TO TRY AND CAPTURE A HUMAN AND HERE YOU ARE DOING NOTHING!”

               “yeah, you could say you’re working yourself-“

          “SANS!”

               “to the _bone_.” Was that a cymbal I heard somewhere? The hell?

            “SANS! YOU AND YOUR PUNS! I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE, MAKE SURE TO PUT A BIT MORE _BACKBONE_ INTO YOUR WORK! NYEH-HEH-HEH!” there was a long stretch of silence as the crunch of boots through snow faded away.

            “*pft* you can get out of the snow _s-now_ , kid.” I leapt up onto my feet, spraying the bastard with snow. That’s right, bitch. _Feel my ice-cold disdain for you_. “hey, can i ask a favor of you?” I glared at the smug bastard for a bit.

            “What the hell do you want, bonehead?” he fucking radiated amusement.

            “well, my brother has been feeling down lately, so i was wondering if you could meet him. it would really brighten his day to meet a real human… anyway, i’m going on ahead. don’t worry about pap, he couldn’t be dangerous if he tried. but i’ll keep an eye socket out for you anyway.” Before I could even grace that with a response, the bastard was gone. Fucking hell. Papyrus really is a cinnamon roll isn’t he? Even without the god damn pinky promise I can’t touch the fucker! Damnit all to hell! A familiar and damning sparkle caught my eye in the snow.

The lingering familiarity of that convenient lamp still fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            GOD DAMNIT SAVE POINTS! I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR BRAIN-WASHING BULLSHIT! The hell is familiar about that fucking lamp anyway? Son of a bitch, this shit will fucking haunt me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so AO3's pasting capabilities are crap when it comes to changing fonts. Just FYI. Like, on word, Sans was in Comic Sans and Papyrus in Papyrus, but here? Nah, these bitches have all the same fonts. Also, Will Tumble sounds rather male but considering their younger sibling is name Frisk, I'm pretty sure no shits were given at the time of their birth about gender or common naming rules. Enjoy.


	5. Be Kind

Okay, so I don’t think I gave enough fucking time to how weird these fucking battle sequences are. And by battle, I mean, me, desperately trying not to actually hit a bitch. The world just goes away and it’s like I’m in fucking space or something but I can actually move around in any direction I want. The weird ass attacks come out of any direction too. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that bullshit up. Fuck Jerry, by the way… just… fuck Jerry.

            The next little area greeted me with a box just off the path that’s apparently magic or some shit and made by a “box lover”. Fucking hell. I could see Sans and Papyrus up ahead so I chose to go on the left path for the moment. There, I found Frosty the Snowman… only lame, because he didn’t have a hat or legs.

            “Hello human! I am a snowman and my fondest wish is to see the world, but alas, I cannot move from this spot. Would you be so kind as to take a piece of me with you on your travels?” sometimes, I wonder if the underground is flooded with some sort of gas that makes you trip balls.

            “You’re a magic snowman, capable of conscious thought and communication, but a pair of legs is beyond you? Wouldn’t a piece of you eventually melt anyway?”

            “No, for I am made of magic. And I still cannot move to make legs or arms anyway.”

            “Whoever the fuck made you clearly doesn’t know how to properly make a snowman. If I get you sticks for arms, could you move them? Or are you stuck with what you have right here?”

            “I am magic, I suppose it would be lovely to move at least a little on my own. If you would be so kind, dear human, I would appreciate it.” I narrowed my eyes at the snowman in irritation. I walked off, huffing, and went back to that fucking snapped branch. In pieces, I could actually pick up two pieces. The walk back allowed me to consider the branches if they were arms…. And fuck it. I stopped in front of the snowman and patted my pockets. It wasn’t going to be perfect, but I could make at least something resembling an arm in decent time. Easier than fucking life sized bear statues. A small whittling tool sat in my back pocket, like I expected.

            “How many fingers do you want, dumbass?”

            “Oh! Uh, this is rather unprecedented, I suppose five. Like you.” I glared up at the snowman in irritation. Cute little shits. I didn’t bother going for realism, just functionality. In about fifteen minutes I had a pair of nearly identical stick arms. I’m assuming magic would allow the snowman to move and bend the arm beyond the confines of proper wood. I carefully lined up the arms properly and stuck them in about where they should be on a proper snowman.

            “Okay, so I really don’t know how to go about giving you fucking legs, not that it would do you much good considering you can’t actually move anything.” A shudder traveled down the arms as they began to move around shakily, “I stand corrected. Okay, fine. I’ll take a piece with me, but you are going to actually look like a proper snowman, damnit!” I took off the hat and scarf, mentally apologizing to Toriel. Not three hours later and I’m already getting rid of them. Well, whatever, it’ll be hot as hell in the Hotlands anyway, knowing my luck. I was just properly wrapping the scarf around the snowman when I heard my phone ring.

            “Yellow?”

            “Orange you glad I called?”

            “Brat! What do you want?”

            “I had a feeling you were reluctantly being a good person.”

            “Bitch, what’s your point?”

            “I told Goat Mom to pack an extra scarf and hat. Just in case your bleeding heart found another stab wound.”

            “You little shit… are you holding up okay? You’re not flirting with Goat Mom, are you?” I heard a big sigh on the other end of the line.

            “No. A shame too, because I’ve had nothing but pick-up lines running through my head ever since you left. Goat Mom’s starting to think I’m becoming depressed in your absence.” I let out a snort.

            “What a horrible fate you must bear. Well, I’ve got to go and make a snowman’s dream come true. Talk to you later, midget.”

            “Bye, Tumble. Try not to trip over anything.” And before I could respond the line went dead. Fucking hell. I may or may not have spent my time searching for the scarf and hat cursing under my breath. Damn brat. I did a little bit too much of a good job raising their sassy ass. Lo and behold, there, between a carefully preserved piece of pie and a spare shirt, was a blue hat and… rainbow snail patterned scarf? The hell? Whatever, try not to think too hard about it, Tumble. Be strong for Frisk. Be strong. I scooped up a small bit of snow and put in a loose sock with no match in sight.

            “Alright, you keep it classy, alright Frosty?”

            “Thank you human, I can now entertain a new dream! A dream of being an interpretive dancer for the sounds of nature!” the hell is the underground on? Some bullshit concoction of crack and a positive outlook on life? Seriously, the fuck?! Frosty began rhythmically waving his arms around to the faint sounds of the wind whistling past. Hm. Not bad. Whelp, it’s time to make a certain skeleton’s dream come true. No, not being captured, just seeing me in person! Well, now I sound like a stuck-up prick. Great. There they are. Sans was still ruminating in a perpetual cloud of amusement as the tallest fucking skeleton I’ve ever seen almost loomed over him. That’s Papyrus? Fucking hell, he must be just over six feet tall! His ridiculous white armor and red hero scarf combo somehow didn’t make him intimidating either. Cute red boots stomped around as Papyrus tried to emphasize his displeasure. Suddenly, he glanced up and noticed me.

            “OH MY GOD! SANS!”

            “what is it bro?”

            “I-IS THAT A HUMAN?”

            “nah, that’s a rock.” That cute mother fucker looked so dejected at that. Damnit Sans, stop teasing the cinnamon roll.

            “OH…”

            “hey, pap? what’s that in front of the rock?”

            “OMG! SANS A HUMAN! *EHEM* HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! PREPARE TO BE THOROUGHLY BEFUDDLED WITH MY PUZZLES AND BECOME MY PRISONER!” and then Papyrus is gone. Son of a bitch. How is Sans, that little asshole, even related to Papyrus? I walked over to Sans, who looked like he was ready to just bathe in amusement.

            “heh, thanks kid. you really made his day… here’s some advice. eventually, you’ll have to fight my brother, he has this _special attack_ that’s blue. when you see a blue attack, just freeze… like, think of how a stop sign is red, only this stop sign is blue. whelp, i’m going on ahead, have fun with pap’s puzzles.” If this son of a bitch doesn’t stop talking for five minutes and fucking dashing off… I. Will. End. Him…. FUCK! God damn pinky promises! Fucking hell. I hope you’re happy Frisk. And not flirting with Goat Mom. Damnit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I imagine Sans would be just a little bit more wary of Tumble, even if he noticed how Tumble also plays around with puns, so prepare for Sans to actually have a sit down with Tumble sometime in the near future. I also plan for Sans to tell Tumble that they can check stats outside of battle. Prepare for very frustrated Tumble when they realize that they can't even smack Sans in good conscious. At this point, Sans is unaware that Frisk is their little sibling. I also imagine that Sans really would be a smug bastard for getting a rise out of someone like Tumble so easily.


	6. Make Good Friends

Okay, so remember how I said Papyrus was a cinnamon roll? Whelp, this cute little shit is about to get smacked. Is it adorable how Papyrus thinks a frozen plate of spaghetti would actually stall me for any meaningful length of time? Yes. Also, fuck that save point.

The patient mouse that was waiting for the perfect time to leave its hole and enjoy the frozen spaghetti fills me with PERSEVERENCE.

            The hell it does you fucking jackass! Also, snow poffs, Lesser Dog, and Greater Dog should really just go the fuck home. I almost pet Lesser Dog a third time when a thought occurred to me. _Did I really want to know how far this bitch could stretch?_ The answer was hell no. Speaking of dogs, Doggo… I don’t even know what to think about him. Like, is smoking dog treats actually a thing down here or…? The two married dogs were kind of cute, I’ll admit, but the giant fucking snowflake bird freaks me the fuck out. It was like some demented version of fucking Sans. _But worse_.

            I ran through some weird golf-personality quiz with a snow ball. I got the color purple. _Like my soul_. So, I was a little concerned when I hit the invisible maze puzzle, the bridge of OH SHIT-never mind, and the colorful tile of Never mind, but Sans’ puzzle just really took the cake.

            “SANS! WHERE’S YOUR PUZZLE?”

            “it’s right there, pap. trust me, the human will never get past it.” And behold. There, in the snow, was a small section of paper that must have been torn out of a local newspaper. A crossword. I made a big show of leaning my entire upper torso over it and humming as though I was trying to solve it. Then, I looked up and made direct eye contact with Sans, my most unimpressed face clear for him to see as I extended my boot and stepped squarely on the puzzle. I then flicked my foot backwards, sending the puzzle up into the air where it caught on the breeze. Perhaps it would find its way to Frosty and his interpretive dance number. Bitch.

            “SANS! THAT DIDN’T EVEN PHASE THEM! WHAT DID YOU USE?” Sans, for his part, looked like the fucking cat that ate the canary. So. Fucking. Amused.

            “today’s crossword. huh. i thought for sure that it would stop them. oh well.”

            “SANS! YOU SHOULD HAVE USED THE JUNIOR JUMBLE! IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, IT IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN THE CROSSWORD!”

            “junior jumble? pap, that’s for _baby bones_.” Okay, there’s something really cute about the fact that Sans calls children ‘ _baby bones_ ’. Those words danced around in my head for a moment.

            “HUMAN! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE! WHICH IS MORE DIFFCULT, A CROSSWORD OR JUNIOR JUMBLE?”

            “Well, Papyrus, that’s a difficult question. I’m not one for _word play_.” Papyrus let out an indignant screech, easily recognizing the pun tone that I used. The fact that his screech lasted until he was beyond out of sight was hilarious. Sans was outright laughing and wiping away… cyan blue tears? The fuck?

            “ah, that was great. hey, tumble? when you reach snowdin, i’d like to have a word with you about something… until then.” And the BASTARD DISSAPEARS AGAIN! FUCKING HELL!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but here it is. Get ready for Sans to talk to Tumble in the next chapter. I was going to put it in here but I thought a whole chapter to entering Snowdin and talking to Sans would be appropriate. Also, am I the only one who imagines a relatively fast run of Undertale taking three days if you were actually going around in person and doing it? A day for each place and the palace/castle being a few hours? Well, that's what timeline i'm working with here. Just an FYI.
> 
> Oh, and I was so tempted to stop at chapter five for a solid week just so I could sit back and laugh like an evil villain, but both my roommates are reading my chapters, so I literally can't. Fuck.  
> Enjoy.


	7. Be Honest With Your Emotions

So, Snowdin is a cute fucking town, just FYI. They even had a community Christmas tree. Not that I approved of their holiday roots, by the way. I remember that creepy ass reindeer thing covered in decorations. Why they never thought of just _removing the fucking shit rather than giving it more gifts I will never know._ Dumbasses. The weird rabbit lady was kind enough to sell me food and chat with me about the skeleton brothers for a bit.

            “Hah, yeah. Anyway, I’ve got to go have an ominous chat with a comedian. Thanks for the Cinnamon Bunny, ma’am!” I said as I walked back into the frigid weather. There, in front of the store, was another box and a sparkle save point.

The welcoming atmosphere of the town fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            SON. OF. A. BITCH. FUCKING HELL. STAHP IT!

            “uh, hey. having a B A D T I M E?” I whirled around and there the bastard was.

            “The hell is up with your voice? Do you need a cough drop or something?” Sans blinked for a moment before chuckling.

            “nah. come on, we can talk in private over here. i know a shortcut.” He grabbed my hand and walked back out of Snowdin, his bony ass fingers cold as hell. Somewhere between the thought of how his fingers were cold and blinking, we were in front of the water in what looked like the outskirts of… Snowdin? What. The. Hell. Is. This. Shit?

            “What the hell…?” Sans let go of my hand and laughed a bit more, his eye sockets seemingly morphing into an amused look.

            “heh, you’re pretty funny… anyway, i wanted to ask you about something.” A flash of blue in his left eye briefly distracted me, “W H A T A R E Y O U P L A N N I N G?” and suddenly this bitch didn’t have any lights in his eyes at all. Did my heart stutter in fear? Hell no… it just came to a screeching halt and went into fucking reverse to get away from his scary ass. Fucking hell man.

            “Bitch, the fuck do you mean? I plan on being a badass!... But seriously, I’m just doing some recon. Goat Mom said it was possible for a human soul to pass through the Barrier but she wasn’t for sure. I plan on making it to the Barrier to find out for sure before backtracking and getting Frisk.” Sans seemed to visibly pull back on the terror mode then.

            “…frisk?” I nodded my head.

            “Yeah, my little agender cherub of a younger sibling. Best poker face, ever. I left Frisk with Goat Mom back in the Ruins… you know, considering how every monster seems to want to take my SOUL, or rather, any human SOUL.” The air seemed lighter all of a sudden. When did it get heavy?!

            “oh. heh, in that case, i have something to ask of you. when you fight my brother, don’t hurt him, okay? use MERCY. considering your stats, it would be a really B A D T I M E. F O R Y O U.”

            “Okay, one, what do you mean my stats? I’ve only seen that in battle! I’ve been really good about not smacking you, so how do you know that? And two, do I look like a murderer to you, bitch? Even without that promise I made Frisk, which I am never doing again, I am not cut out for this fountain of eternal kindness thing, I would never harm a Cinnamon Roll.”

            “oh, right, you don’t know that you can check that outside of battle, do you? just… uh, think about checking it. ya know, with DETERMINATION… what promise and what do cinnamon rolls have to do with anything?” I looked at Sans in consideration. Fine. What the hell ever! Since this god damn place makes no fucking sense, why the fuck not? MENU. STATS. And like that, the world froze briefly. In front of me, was a luminescent window.

WILL TUMBLE: LV 1

HP: 275/275

ATTACK: 138 (0)

DEFENSE: 26 (0)

            I mentally dismissed the window (which worked for whatever reason), and narrowed my eyes at Sans. Where the fuck does this bitch stand anyway?

sans the skeleton: lv 1

hp: 1/1

attack: 1

defense: 1

            SON OF A BITCH! EVEN IF I COULD JUSTIFY “ACCIDENTALLY” SMACKING THIS HOE I COULDN’T DO IT WITH A GOOD CONSCIOUS. FUCK ME. WHY IS ALL HIS SHIT UNCAPITALIZED ANYWAY? With an internal scream I mentally reviewed what he asked me a few seconds ago.

            “Fucking hell, man.” I let out an irritated huff, “In the Ruins, I made a pinky promise with Frisk that I wouldn’t purposefully hurt any creature down here… and a Cinnamon Roll is like… well, your brother. By the way, did you know that I’ve encountered a frog with more impressive stats than you? It’s… a little depressing to be honest. Like, I couldn’t smack you if I wanted to now that I know I could kill you with a fucking sneeze, damnit!” Sans fucking laughter right then will haunt me till my dying day… but the relief I could hear would stay with me for a very long time.

            “well then, now that that’s cleared out of the way, pap is waiting for you outside of snowdin. make sure you don’t work yourself… to the _bone_.” And the bitch disappears again… wait a minute. _Snowdin_ … _snowed in_. SON OF A—

            Okay Tumble, you can do it. Just breathe in. Out. In. Out. If Sans is the one who named this town you can just smac—SON OF A BITCH! FUCKING HELL! THAT’S IT! I WILL DIE OF FRUSTRATION! AINT NO ONE GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE! THIS SHIT WILL KILL ME FIRST!

            Sometime later I trudge my way through the town, perusing the library to gather my wits again, being incredibly insulted by the book insinuating that humans naturally are dicks… not that I’m arguing, but it’s the principle of the matter that counts. There’s also this weird little dinosaur kid with no arms that’s really excited about this “Undyne” chick. I’m not sure why I feel like there’s going to be a… problem with this mystery person. I almost walk out of town before it occurs to me that I should probably save. Hate to fucking sneeze on Papyrus and accidentally end the fucking cinnamon roll.

The beginnings of mutual friendship with Sans fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            ONCE AGAIN, YOU FUCKING SAVE POINT, QUIT SHOVING BULLSHIT INTO MY HEAD!

The continuous presence of the save points fills me with a sense of GRADITUDE.

            I WILL FUCKING END YOU, GOD DAMN SELF AWARE PIECES OF SHIT! I stomp off to confront Papyrus, walking past what I have no doubt is their house. Fog rolled in and thickened quickly. There, looming before me, was the tall silhouette of Papyrus.

            “HUMAN. I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX EMOTIONS. THE FEELING FINDING SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES PUZZLES AND JAPES! OF FINALY FINDING SOMEONE WHO APPRECIATES THE WONDERS OF WELL-COOKED SPAGHETTI. OF MEETING SOMEONE WHO COULD BECOME A WONDERFUL FRIEND… THIS IS LIKELY WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW, HUMAN! WORRY NOT, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR FRIEND… NO, THIS IS WRONG! I CANNOT DO THIS! YOU ARE A HUMAN AND I MUST CAPTURE YOU! PREPARE YOURSELF, FOR BATTLE, HUMAN!” god damnit you precious cinnamon roll. The world receded and it was just Papyrus and I. I didn’t even think about it before choosing MERCY.

            A sea of bones came at me. I easily dodged the first two, but on the third it suddenly occurred to me how weird it was that Papyrus was just pulling fucking bones out of nowhere, but how it made sense that he’d fight with them… in a morbid and weird way. I… son of a bitch. My fucking foot… it caught…on a bone… and I tripped in an antigravity environment. God damnit. Naturally, it only snow balled from there, in an extremely painful way. This monster battle shit really hurts when you actually get hit. With my body in free fall, I managed to knock my ass into bone. After. Bone. After. Bone. Remember that health bar of 275? Yeah, me too. Every bone did about 5 damage, but I managed to clip my face pretty good and it only took 4. Then I was at one health. AND THEN ONE LAST BONE… came out of nowhere and... Bam. It was over. I faintly heard the sound of a panicked Papyrus and a shattering sound. Then, there I was, standing in front of the shop. Staring down at that fucking sparkle.

            “…so, you want a Cinnamon Bunny?” if sparkly save points could laugh. One purchase later and I’m walking past that fucking house again, only this time, Sans is out front.

            “hey kid, you okay? you look like you took quite the _fall_ …” I stopped in my tracks and narrowed my eyes at Sans. _Does this bitch really have to be able to remember shit?_

            “Fuck off, Sans.” And the fucking laughter ensues. Glad to know I’m such a fucking riot, you prick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so originally the first death would be with Undyne and getting impaled, but then THIS HAPPENED. I HOPE YOU PEOPLE ARE HAPPY. also, I got this review in and the time stamp was an hour in the future and I was like "Okay, someone threatened to "CHEEKI BREEKI" me "all the way to Albuquerque"... from the future. Considering the whole "timeline" and "time travel" shit going on in Undertale, I don't know if I should be worried or not." and then it occurred to my roommate/beta/adopted-but-older-than-me-daughter that this person likely lives in Canada where they are a time zone AHEAD of me. Hence the time difference. Also, I know Papyrus does the blue heart thing first off... but like, give me this moment... this moment where a character named "Tumble" has a (actually) rare moment of clumsiness and trips in what is essentially an antigravity environment. Into death. Like, in a single turn. I also like to imagine that now that Sans knows that Tumble is the elder sibling of Frisk, and not an entirely unknown quantity, he can relax on whether Tumble is a threat. The fact that Tumble is genuinely trouble by being unable to even smack him is also a moment of relief for him. Expect Papyrus battle in the next chapter, an awkward date, and maybe even a cute moment with Frisk over the phone. Maybe. 4 pages in word seems like a good chapter length so far.


	8. Friendzone is the Best Zone

Okay, let’s try that again. Fog. Shadows. Papyrus. Cinnamon roll speech of sure-I’m-the-one-you-were-talking-about. Battle start. Only, this time, Papyrus waved his arm. The effect was instantaneous. My violet heart turned blue, and suddenly I had gravity again. Well, at least the odds of a repeat aren’t quite so great this time.

            “YOU’RE “BLUE” NOW! I THOUGHT ABOUT WAITING A TURN BUT I HAD THE STRANGE…. FEELING THAT THIS WAS THE BETTER OPTION.” Son. Of. A. Bitch. Both fucking skeletons have some form of recall! Great. I decided to check out my options this time around. ACT-> (CHECK, FLIRT, INSULT). Well, at least I don’t have to worry about it being unclear like in the Dummy Fight way back in the Ruins. Hm… MERCY or FLIRT. My mouth decided for me.

            “Papyrus, sweetie, is this all really necessary? You do realize we can be friends without all this, right?” okay, somehow I still managed to choose TALK and FLIRT at the same fucking time. Damnit. Papyrus, on the other hand, flushed orange. Huh. Would that mean Sans blushes blue? How fucking adorable… I still want to smack him, though.

            “S-SO YOU REVEAL YOUR TRUE FEELINGS! YOU WISH TO DATE ME! BUT I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS” wait. What? But there’s no time for such silly thing like… FUCKING LOGIC! I have a choice to make.

  1. I can make spaghetti or (B) I have no redeeming qualities.



Clearly, I went with B, if it meant ending this ridiculous shit. But, alas, even the best laid plans go to waste.

“THAT HUMILITY! IT REMINDS ME OF MYSELF! OH, NO! YOU ARE SECRETLY MEETING MY STANDARDS!”

A solid line of bones are rolling towards me in alternating whites and blues. They weren’t actually difficult to dodge, oddly enough. It was kind of a fun workout to jump over the small white bones and, if the mood struck, just flip over the blue ones.

            “You know that wanting to be friends doesn’t necessarily mean I want to date you, right?” but the S.S. Papyrus is already out at sea. This, is pretty much how it went. I try to convince him that I don’t want to date him, and I immediately meet his standards. ‘Secretly’, of course. “Seriously, Papyrus, I can’t date a cinnamon roll… I just can’t.” _not to mention I’d rather not find out how Sans would react if he thought I was honestly pursuing you. He may have 1 hp/attack/defense, but you don’t get into as many fights as I do without learning a thing or two about unassuming pricks_. When it became obvious that words wouldn’t get to him, I chose actions instead. That’s right… I MERCY’d that cinnamon roll.

            “SO YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS? VERY WELL, I MUST USE MY ‘SPECIAL ATTACK’.” Cue dodging and MERCY.

            “SOON… VERY SOON I WILL USE MY ‘SPECAL ATTACK’!” another round of bones and MERCY… how soon is soon?

            “OKAY, THE NEXT ATTACK WILL BE MY ‘SPECIAL ATTACK’!” oh thank god, I don’t know if I can take much more of this cinnamon roll action… Then… and then, Papyrus’s ‘special attack’, was stolen by a dog out of fucking nowhere. I could faintly hear goofy ass 8-bit dog music in the background as it ran away and out of sight. So, instead, Papyrus gave me a slightly more difficult ‘regular attack’ that spelled out ‘COOL DUDE’ and had one last bone riding on a skateboard. With one last MERCY it was all over. “I WAS DEFEATED SO EASILY! NOW UNDYNE WILL NEVER LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD! I WILL REMAIN WITH A FRIEND QUANTITY OF ZERO! I WILL REMAIN UNPOPULAR!” fuck man. Only Papyrus would manage to make me feel bad for not beating the shit out of him… or getting the shit beat out of me.

            “Look, Papyrus, we can still be friends. I think you’re a pretty cool dude!” Papyrus let out hopeful tears, though his looked a little like orange soda.

            “YOU DO? I-I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DATE ME? AM I ALREADY ‘FRIENDZONED’? WOWIE!” I let out a laugh.

            “Hah, never change, Papyrus. I didn’t want to date you, I just tend to use terms of endearment with new friends. A sort of… polite thing, really. I kinda curse a lot any other time. Even with my own little sibling.”

            “YOU HAVE A SIBLING TOO! CAN I MEET THEM?”

            “Sure, after I find out some information about the Barrier. If a human really can pass through, I’ll come back and swing by with Frisk. If not, then we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted.” I said softly. Papyrus really is a baby bones in a big bones body.

            “OH BOY! W-WELL, I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT A HUMAN CAN PASS THROUGH THE BARRIER ON THEIR OWN, BUT ALPHYS WOULD KNOW FOR SURE! EITHER WAY, YOU’D NEED TO SEE KING ASGORE! I’M SURE YOU COULD CONVINCE HIM TO LET THE TWO OF YOU LIVE HERE PEACEFULLY! OR… PASS THROUGH, IF THAT IS THE CASE! NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!”

            “Who’s Alphys?”

            “SHE IS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST! SHE LIVES IN HER LAB IN THE HOTLANDS AND RARELY EVER LEAVES. UNDYNE AND ALPHYS ARE ALSO GOOD FRIENDS!”

            “Oh, cool. I guess I’ll go through Waterfall and see her then. Do you want my number? You know, since we’re friends?” Papyrus’ eyes lit up like fucking stars.

            “I WOULD LOVE TO EXCHANGE CONTACT INFORMATION, HUMAN!”

            “Just Tumble, Papyrus… or Will, if you prefer, but I usually go by Tumble. We’re friends so we don’t need to go by titles or species, right?” Papyrus looked up from where he was punching in his phone number into my own phone and smiled brightly.

            “THAT IS RIGHT! I WOULD NOT ASK YOU TO CALL ME ‘THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ AFTER ALL! SO I WILL NOW CALL YOU ‘TUMBLE’… TUMBLE… WILL… TUMBLE… HEY! IS THAT A PUN! SANS HAS INFECTED YOU! OH NO! I AM A TERRIBLE FRIEND FOR HAVING NOT NOTICED BEFORE! TO LET MY BROTHER CORRUPT YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU WOULD CHANGE YOUR NAME INTO A PUN! IT’S UNFORGIVABLE!”

            “It’s fine, Papyrus! Will Tumble really is my name… my… uh, folks, weren’t the best at naming kids. My younger sibling is called ‘Frisk’ for god’s sake!”

            “OH! JUST LIKE OUR KING! HE IS HORRIBLE AT NAMING THINGS… DID YOU KNOW HE NAMED THE UNDERGROUND ‘NEW HOME’? HE ACTUALLY NAMED ALL THE LOCATIONS DOWN HERE AS WELL. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE NAMES, WE HAVE FOR PLACES NOW… JUST HORRIBLE!” thank you Papyrus, for not noticing the awkward pause concerning my relatives… just. Thanks. With a short (and very loud) goodbye, I was on my way to Waterfall.

            Well, Waterfall were aptly named, I’ll give them that. I put away my hat and scarf, getting the feeling that it would only get hotter as I went on. I checked at a sparkly save point.

The serenity of Waterfall fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

            …Whatever. Just. What the fuck ever. I move the fuck on with my life and spot Sans at a sentry station.

            “Sup, Sans. What’cha doing out here?” Sans looks over at me and smirks.

            “just working hard.”

            “Don’t you mean, hardly working?”

            “same difference… hey, tumble? how about i take you somewhere for a bit?”

            “Don’t you have a job to do?”

            “nah, two jobs; twice the union-regulated breaks. come on, i know a shortcut.” And once again the prick takes my hand and somewhere between a thought and a blink, we’re in Snowdin, just outside ‘Grillbys’. Upon entering, we were greeted with a cheerful cry of

            “SANS!”

            “I thought you were in here for supper?” Sans smirked before replying.

            “nah, you must be thinking of my afternoon snack!” a round of laughter echoed around the bar. He led me to the bar up front and I sat down. Naturally, I was greeted with the familiar sound of a whoopee cushion.

            “heh, careful! some freak like to leave whoopee cushions on chairs around here~” I narrowed my eyes at Sans.

            “Yeah, I bet they do… oh!” I flipped open my phone and looked at the time. It was just past ten at night. Damn. Time flies.

            “ya expecting someone?”

            “Nah, I just forgot to call before Frisk’s bedtime. I didn’t realize it was so late.” Sans’ expression flickered for a moment.

            “yeah, i was wondering if you were trying to shoot straight for the barrier in one go or not.”

            “Oh, definitely not. I’d be a mess in the second day. I guess after this I’ll just book a room and continue in the morning.”

            “i forgot to ask how the fight with my brother went…” an unsettling feeling crept up my back. You see here, this shit was what I was talking about! I ain’t fooled by those stats for a second! This little prick has something up his sleeve! I know it!

            “Oh, it went okay. I accidentally used an endearment and he spent half of the battle convinced I wanted to date him. Thankfully, the misunderstanding was fixed and we are now just friends. We even exchanged numbers.” I noticed that flash of blue in his eyes, don’t think I didn’t! The owner of the bar, a man literally made of fucking fire, came by and tilted his head in question.

            “i think we’ll both have the ‘burg. that cool with you?”

            “ _Icy_ no problem with it.” I got a cheery smile in return as Grillby left to fix up our food.

            “ya’know, i’ve been meaning to ask you about something… how old are you? i mean, your stats are pretty high for a kid, considering your LV is only 1.”

            “Oh, I just turned eighteen. I don’t actually understand the ‘LV’ part, because it looks like “Level” in a video game, but if that’s the case, then shouldn’t it be higher by now? You’re going to have to clarify a bit there.” Sans’ eyes flashed blue again.

            “kid, ‘LV’ doesn’t stand for “level’… it stand for ‘LOVE’, which is an acronym for ‘Level of Violence’. you gain LOVE by getting EXP, which stands for Execution Points. the more LOVE you get, the more pain you’ve inflicted on others. the higher your LOVE the more you can distance yourself from that pain.”

            “Oh… huh. Suddenly, it makes sense. My other stats must be so high because of _that_ …” the look Sans gave me demanded an explanation as Grillby deposited our burgers, “You see, about four years ago, life got… difficult for Frisk and I. I tried to pick up quick jobs for cash when I could but in the winter… things… food was sparse. Even wood carving didn’t bring in enough for our basic needs. Then… I went into the city. You’ve noticed by now that I have a bit of a… temper, yeah? Well, I put that temper, and my experience, to good use. I got into fighting rings. I was good. Suddenly, we could breathe again. Ever since then, I’d make a trip to the city and get into a few fights every month or so when needed. The pay was pretty good… I… uh, never told Frisk about them. I did my best to not get hit anywhere they would notice. So, uh, it’s not likely to be an issue, but you promise never to tell Frisk, right?” Sans took a deep breath, brows somehow furrowed. He grabbed a bottle of ketchup.

            “ya want any?” he shrugged when I shook my head and immediately drenched his burger in ketchup, “well, tumble, i don’t like to make promises, but i won’t go blabbing to frisk about it, if that’s what you want. say, where were your parents in all this?” I carefully looked away from his gaze and started in on my burger. “tumble…” a quick glance revealed sharply narrowed eyes and I felt oddly guilty. I swallowed my bite first and awkwardly cleared my throat.

            “Ah… hm… how do I put this? Before four years ago, our life was quite difficult in a different way. Heh, our parents left four years ago to see the stars~!” his unimpressed look did not escape my notice, “Okay, so… they just up and left one day. No warning or explanation, but life became _safer_ for Frisk and I after that. Since we live so far out, no one ever actually noticed. We were homeschooled up until that point, so it was a matter of small forgeries on some documents to ensure no one ever bothered to look. I put aside money to bribe an official to put in the papers for custody of Frisk when I turned eighteen. My slightly shady connections did the rest. An incident with the wildlife happened and… well, here we are. The end.” I pushed up my glasses nervously and finished my burger. I felt an onslaught of emotions that I usually kept bottled away try and take over me. Sans looked shocked before turning to Grillby.

            “just put it on my tab, grillby. come on, tumble.” He grabbed my arm and began tugging me out of the bar.

            “What? Where the hell are you trying to take me, you shit?” something in Sans seemed to relax at the insult.

            “your staying at paps and my place tonight. pap would throw a fit if he knew i let his new friend stay in the inn when we have a perfectly good couch.” Something in me warmed a bit at that. (Budding friendship indeed, you fucking smug sparkle/save points).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, uh, well... I meant to have Papyrus do the whole "date" thing, but then Tumble was all like "I can't date the cinnamon roll!" and this happened. In case it's not clear, canon divergence is happening... that and I have a crappy memory, so don't be surprised if things get a little mixed up. Next chapter, though, will have a cute Frisk moment. Who knows, maybe i'll even do a short bit from Sans' perspective. His thoughts won't be like his text though (I.E., with no capitalization), since it's really fucking with word for all these grammatical errors to be hanging around. Did anyone else forget Tumble has glasses? I did, until this chapter. If you do enjoy the whole "Sans needs love" thing, then this can still be included as the awkward date, but honestly, this shit is looking to turn from Frenemies to straight up annoying older brother thing, which is also a week point of mine, BTW. Big Bro!Sans for the win! If I can't have a Sans-ship, I will damn well have a friendship-Sans-ship! Bloody hell, I should go to bed already. Anyway, enjoy!


	9. Always Have a Proper Bed Time

The town was quiet as Sans led me forward. He seemed to be troubled and his grip on my arm was firm.

            “Sans… you okay? Something grinding on your bones?” There, some humor, maybe that’ll snap him out of it. He turned his head slightly to glare at me before leading me up the porch and into his house.

            “no, of course not. why would the knowledge that your life was in danger for _years_ because of _neglect_ bother me?” I gave Sans a considering look.

            “Hah, danger? Now, being in danger is going to bed wondering if your folks would finally snap and slit your throat. Purposefully going to sleep almost on top of a toddler so that if anyone gets their throat slit, it’ll be you, and not them. Mild starvation, on the other hand, is a simple annoyance. We survived, didn’t we?” that damn near broke Sans. He looked like some demented cross between furious and terrified.

            “survived, sure, but at what cost?” I didn’t even need to pause for that one.

            “My childhood. I’m not saying it’s right or any of that shit, but it happened. _Happened_ , as in, _it’s over now_. Frisk and I can go to bed without worrying about when we’ll be dragged out of it for a beating. We can eat without worry about being caught. It’ll take time, of course, but without those assholes, we have a chance to _live_. Don’t twist yourself up about it Sans. You’re only hurting yourself doing it.” part of me really wanted to go back to being able to casually insult Sans, “ _There’s nothing you can do about it, so don’t bother._ ” This seemed to stop him in his tracks, as he was pulling a blanket over the couch and setting a pillow up on one end. When did he get those?

            “trust me, tumble, i’m familiar with doing nothing.” Damnit Sans, don’t be a broken Sinnamon Roll! Fucking hell! Screw this fragile skeleton thing. Sans needs a fucking hug. I can recognize a broke ass bitch when I see one! I moved with the speed of a badass—no I am not going to cry, you fucking prick!—and wrapped my arms around Sans. He smelled weird as hell… like ketchup, dry bones, and some weird _person smell_. The fact that I’m fucking noticing is weird as hell!

            “Sans… I really fucking appreciate the support… just so you fucking know. Asshole.” Sans turned a bit and drew me closer, finally returning the god damn hug, “Don’t you fucking laugh at me, you prick! Hugging you scares the hell out of me! Why do you have to have one _everything_! I’m terrified of breaking your bitch ass!” his shoulders shook even more, probably some punk ass version of crying/laughing. Prick.

            “heh, _tsundere_ …” I froze… _that fucking prick!_

            “That’s it! I don’t care anymore about your bitch ass! _Break bitch. Fucking shatter!_ ” I began to squeeze Sans tightly as he began to laugh harder. Glad I could amuse you, asshole! Then Sans also began to squeeze me back, somehow managing to get a pretty good amount of strength for _a bony ass bastard_.

            “ _you really care~ tumble the tsundere~ C A C T U S!_ ” I growled as Sans continued laughing at me.

            “NYEH! A GROUP HUG? WITHOUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS? THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!” and suddenly Sans and I were dangling in the air as Papyrus _the fucking Cinnamon Roll held us like we were small children_! The fuck man?! I may have made a dying pterodactyl sound, but I like to think that sound was made by Sans, rather than my badass self. Yep… the skeleton probably just farted or some shit… without an actual ass. ( _Whatever helps you sleep at night_ ). It took some time, but eventually Papyrus put us down and Sans followed him to his room to tell him a bedtime story, thankfully that was after they told me where the bathroom was so I could change. I assumed they didn’t actually have a toilet, seeing as how they were skeletons, but lo and behold they had a working toilet… do they just like the ascetics of it or? Don’t. Think. About. It. I went back downstairs and set down my backpack, ready to just go to sleep, when a soft ringing caught my ear. I flipped open the phone and held it up to my ear.

            “Yellow?”

            “T-Tumble, my child… it is Frisk!” that got my attention.

            “What’s wrong?” I sat back up and glanced at the clock. Almost one in the morning.

            “They had a nightmare, my child, and cannot go back to sleep.” I let out a sigh of relief. Only a nightmare.

            “Okay, give Frisk the phone…” I waited for Frisk’s upset hum, “Frisk, baby? Old or new?”

            “Both…”

            “Okay then…” I let out a sigh and thought for a moment, “Okay, here’s what I want you to do, sweetie. Put the phone on speaker and Goat Mom will help you wash up. Am I on speaker?”

            “Yes, my child, we can hear you fine now.”

            “Alright, Goat Mom, help Frisk wash their face. I’ll tell you guys about my day while you do that.” I waited until I heard the shuffling of feet and sniffling, “Okay, so I met this annoying guy, right? Puns and smug satisfaction twenty-four-seven. I’ve held back smacking him, mostly because he kinda looks like I might actually knock his head off with a sneeze, but whatever. I also met this weird snowman that had this dream to travel, right? But, like, he couldn’t actually move, Frisk. Someone built a snowman but forgot arms or winter apparel, it was offending to my delicate sensibilities… hey, don’t laugh at me, midget!” and so it went for about twenty minutes, I randomly filled in Goat Mom and Frist while they got ready for bed again.

            “Tumble…”

            “Yes, dear?” I asked softly.

            “Can you sing me to sleep… you know, like you used to before…?” I chuckled a little and glance up the stairs. The lights were out, so Sans and Papyrus must me asleep now.

            “Fine, but only because you asked so sweetly, dear. Are you tucked in?” I heard shuffling and an affirmative hum.

            “Frisk is all tucked in, Tumble. You may proceed with the lullaby.” Well, it’s not exactly a lullaby, but close enough…

            “All right then…

_If_ _we could sit together a moment_

_And talk forever just to pass the time_

_I would smile as the shivers and chills_

_Run down my spine_

_And your eyes are locked on mine_

_Oh, we'll fill the metro skies with country air_

_And when you close your tired eyes_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_Deep inside of you_

_There's a ruby glow_

_And it gets brighter_

_Than you and I will ever know_

_There's a rushing sound_

_That surrounds us_

_When we walk alone_

_And it's everything we've never known_

_(Wonder down the street and I will be the pavement beneath your feet)_

_If we could just be immobile for some time_

_And finally figure out the way we feel_

_About the missing puzzle pieces and cloudy question marks_

_That still look a bit surreal_

_Oh, I tend to disappear_

_Here and there_

_So concentrate and you'll feel me_

_Everywhere_

_And we'll fill the metro skies with country air_

_If you're lost when you close your eyes_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_You could be anywhere_

_I_ _'ll meet you there_

_I_ _'ll meet you there_

_You could be anywhere_

_I'll meet you there_

_I'll meet you there_

_Open your eyes and see_

_You could be anywhere_

_Everything you can be_

_I'll meet you there_

_Open your eyes and see_

_You could be anywhere_

_Everything you can be_

_I'll meet you there._ ”

            “…Frisk is asleep now. Good night my child.”

            “Good night Goat Mom.” I shut the phone and sighed, setting down the phone and laying down to sleep. Gotta love Owl City man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I copy and paste the lyrics of "I'll Meet You There" by Owl City? Yes... yes I did. Part of me wanted to do "You are My Sunshine", but the circumstances of how this song became their "I had a nightmare you were gone" thing (which will be explained), would just make it depressing. This makes it soothing and ironic (I mean, RUBY GLOW? Familiar anyone?). That, and I really just need a Sans that finds out about Owl City. Besides the religious over/undertones, the puns man... the puns. And Papyrus would like the upbeat music until he notices that EVERYTHING IS A PUN AND I JUST--... I'm still trying to figure out if I should do a chapter with Sans' perspective next or not... hm, opinions, anyone? Anyway, Enjoy~


	10. Another's Shoes(House Shoes... Whatever)

Being stuck in a time loop really _grinds my bones_. Even with countless hours of research, I still can’t find the cause of my misery. I’ve seen so many things. Countless happy endings. An eternity of genocide. Most of them revolve around a child (not always the same age. Always a striped sweater) that looks like the first fallen human. _Chara_. Sometimes, it would be a different person that fell down (the eight child to have fallen… seven dead children that never change). _Was it the fifth or the fiftieth time loop that I gave up?_

            Not all time loops are equal. Some last only hours and others last months (not all of them were happy endings… sometimes the _thing_ took their time with genocide). Even in a single time loop there were smaller loops. Loops where the child went back from a SAVE. Sometimes because of a mistake and sometimes it was just a RELOAD. A choice to relive a moment. Over and over again. How many times have I stood in the Last Corridor to judge a child, only to find a _demon_ in its place? How much longer will I be the only one to remember _every time loop to have existed_? Where’s Gaster when you need him?

            _But this time it’s different, and different isn’t always a good thing_. Tumble is different, though, but not really. Frisk, the fallen child that looks like the first, never really talked about their past before. Did they always have a sibling? Did… they _lose one? Is that how the demon in the timelines were created?_

            Tumble… Tumble’s a good kid. A bit too strong for a monster battle, but only because they had to be to survive the human ones. They have a bit of a temper too, but riling them up is almost as fun as making Papyrus angry. Hell of a potty mouth, though, but it only makes their anger funnier. Don’t think I didn’t notice how pun-ny they are… maybe… maybe they can end the time loops? I don’t know, something about their presence makes this time loop different… it feels like something is drawing to a close. The math is inconclusive, though, so maybe I’m just imagining it. _Like I have every other time I thought this hell was ending_.

            Papyrus is asleep now, likely dreaming of fluffy bunnies and spaghetti. This… moment, always helps me through the time loops. How Papyrus never changes, even when he acts different because of ‘strange feelings’. A memory of a warm hug compels me to check on Tumble. Hugging a human is always _weird_. I’m so used to familiar bones embracing me that the strange _soft_ heat is jarring. A glance downstairs reveals that they are talking on the phone to someone. A Goat Mom? And Frisk, for sure, but who’s Goat Mom? _What a weird name to have_. They sound so… _nice_. Like, their voice is soft and they aren’t even cursing. Is it because Goat Mom is listening?

They sounded soft before, with that unexpected hug, and uncertain when they talked about their childhood. But… this is different. _They kind of sound like I do when I read Papyrus his bedtime story_. The thought was unexpected, but then it clicked. _Oh. They’re comforting Frisk, like a good older sibling does_. They talk for a while and I feel accomplished that I can tell where Tumble desperately wants to cuss. _‘Puns and smug satisfaction’_ is how you describe me, Tumble? Really?... well, it’s close enough. It’s interesting how appearance doesn’t even get mentioned. _You’d think the fact that I’m a skeleton would be the first thing brought up_. It surprises me when Tumble starts to sing. It’s not a lullaby, not really, but it’s soothing. Heh, _I’ll meet you there_ … sounds nice, kid. Never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's Sans-Feels! All aboard the feels train, that the entire fandom already has tickets to! Is it filler? Maaayyybbbee. I like to think that i'm developing Sans' character here. Oh! And Gaster... Gaster, I might not know much about him (who does, really?), but his punk ass will be here too! Eventually. Shit happens. Next chapter is Waterfall! Prepare to learn about Tumble, find a psychologically damaged quiche, and FUCKING UNDYNE BITCH! Minor pole/spear dancing may appear... Also some death. Tumble death. May even have a spectacular death scene again, who knows? Also, bitch, I aint yo slave! *grabs whip*
> 
> "DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? SINGING A SONG OF ANGRY MEN! IT IS THE MUSIC OF A PEOPLE, WHO WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIN! HYAH!"
> 
> I'm just writing while I can before college starts back up again... yeah.... anyway~
> 
> Keep Calm and OC' On! Bitch!


	11. A Quality Education is of the Utmost Importance

I was greeted, not by sunlight, or the sleepy murmurs of Frisk, but by very loud cheers of—

“SPAGHETTI FOR BREAKFAST, SANS!”

“yeah, pap. spaghetti. tumble will love it, i’m sure.” I blearily rubbed my eyes and grabbed my bag, shuffling towards the bathroom. I returned victorious and in a fresh flannel shirt five minutes later, as bright eyed and bushy haired as I could be, which was very. My hair could not be contained. _Never_.

“Morning Papyrus.” I accepted the plate of spaghetti and glared at Sans, “ _Sans_. _I see you’re still in one piece. Hmm._ ” I hummed very neutrally and Sans just radiated smug satisfaction. Bastard.

“heh, morning, kid. ya headed out for waterfall today?” I scooped some spaghetti into my mouth… the taste was… indescribable. It _looked_ like ordinary spaghetti. Weird.

“Yeah, with any luck I’ll make it to Hotlands in no time.” Papyrus froze and looked really nervous.

“AH, TUMBLE, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD… NOT!” I gave Papyrus a look.

“Not? Not what?”

“your shoe laces. hate for you to trip and _fall_ , _tumble_.” I narrowed my eyes at Sans and pointed at him threateningly with a forkful of spaghetti. _I will make like the Italian mafia and-a end you, cazzo_. I swear, this bitch is becoming psychic, because the smug factor just hit over nine thousand.

“SANS! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR PUNS! WHAT IF TUMBLE RUNS INTO UNDYNE?!” Papyrus seems really nervous about this Undyne chick.

“Hey, don’t worry Papyrus, if I can make it past The Great Papyrus’s ‘special attack’, I can make it through anything!” I said with a grin. This mollified Papyrus for the rest of breakfast. It was only after I gave Papyrus a goodbye hug, Sans the evil eye, and was dressed for the weather and out the door that it hit Papyrus.

“HEY! YOU DIDN’T GET TO SEE MY ‘SPECIAL ATTACK’! THAT ANNOYING DOG STOLE IT! TUUUUMMMMBBBLLLEEEE! SANS, YOU’RE NOT HELPING WITH YOUR LAUGHTER!” so, it was with a long string of laughter that I exited Snowdin, once again.

Naturally, I stop at the save point.

The echoes of Papyrus’s exclamation fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

…

 

So, naturally, since I left Sans behind in Snowdin, he’s the first person I see in Waterfall. There, in the weird sentry station, was. That. Grinning. Fucking. Skeleton. Son of a bitch. How the hell?! I glared at him before flipping him off and walking by. His laughter rang as he chased me.

“wait! tumble, I forgot to tell you something!” I reluctantly slowed down and let him catch up to me.

“What, you insufferable pile of bones? What?!” he continued laughing for several moments.

“Okay, so… have you heard about **a talking flower**?” I stared at him in shock for a moment but he kept on, “yeah, echo flowers, you’ve heard of them, right? they’re bright, glowing blue flowers that repeat the last thing they heard… but, lately, paps has been hearing echo flowers talk when no one else is around. words of encouragement, insults, and predictions of the future… you’ll keep an eye out for this prankster, right?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I thought you were talking about that demonic fucking weed, for a minute there, Sans! Fucking hell!” Sans got a curious look on his face for a moment before moving on.

“anyway, I gotta get back to work. see ya later, tumble. be sure not to get too _bonely_ without me!” and poof, the fucker was gone.

“Like hell I would, you fucking prick!” I left in a huff, not really paying attention to where I was going.

And that’s how I ended up in a creepy room with a bench and what appeared to be a quiche abandoned there.

Abandoned Quiche: restores 34 HP.

A psychologically damaged spinach egg pie.

_You just weren’t ready for the responsibility._

_You leave the Quiche on the ground and tell it you’ll be right back_.

Cue internal screaming. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIT? WHAT THE…. THE HELL WAS… FUCKING HELL! NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. FIRST IT WAS SPARKLES, NOW IT’S CREEPY FUCKING PIE! HELL. NO.

Apparently, I had managed to make a bridge to ‘WTF?!’ while I wasn’t paying attention. Out of weird ass flower seeds that feel incomplete without all their sibling being present. WHAT THE HELL EVER! JUST… WHATEVER! To cheer myself up, I listened to the cute story going on with the echo flowers, the weird tale of how monsters became trapped underground, and replaced the echo flower dialog with my own positive story.

_“And then you realize how weird it is that evolution gave you a flower that not only glows but also talks—however, it only repeats what it had last heard.”_

_“Echo flowers actually remember everything they heard, and refuse to repeat the same thing if they have heard it twice in a row.”_

_“You actually tried it, didn’t you?”_

_“You are such a cinnamon roll, dear. You really are… but not in the edible way, just in case you were concerned.”_

_“Echo flowers actually only refuse to repeat insults.”_

_“Look at you, insulting yourself! Cherub, don’t you know you’re beautiful?”_ and so the mind fuckery continued. I wandered around a bit more, quite lost, and ran into the armless monster kid a few more times. Someone is really pumped to see Undyne. The turtle guy was interesting though. Mentioned a Tem village that I should go and sell things at.

Okay, so I may have been stalling with the whole, running around thing, but eventually I had to move forward. There was this weird statue that was being rained on, but the full umbrella stand in the next room fixed that. The music box thing was a plus, though. _Hey, wasn’t there a piano somewhere around here?_...

So… apparently, there’s this ancient artifact that was just waiting for someone to correctly play a tune on a piano. Not that I’ll ever know what it did, since _somehow_ , the same dog that stole Papyrus’s ‘special attack’, also happened to hitch a ride in my bag. It then proceeded to swallow the artifact whole and get the hell out of dodge… also leaving what I can only call Dog Residue and the occasional Dog Salad in my bag. _Didn’t the turtle mention a village that was good for selling things?_

\--To be an entrepreneur is to face the adult world and declare your time for sale--

WHAT THE HELL IS THE UNDERGROUND ON?! THE FUCK KIND OF SPECIES IS A ‘TEMMIE’!? They were like those illiterate cats fused with dogs and some demonic entity from the bowels of the internet?! Trying to keep my sanity together, I ignored everything wrong with Tem Village, I went into the store. _To send Temmie to ‘colleg’ or to not._ Well, at this point, I did have over two thousand gold. And so, I was graced with the sight of hell… Temmie’s face lingered where Temmie no longer was… I walked out of the store and glanced back in, numb to the fact that Temmie was back (and not just their face), a small graduation cap on their head. Apparently, I could now buy ‘Temmie Armor’ for nine thousand gold.

“oH! iS ThAT DoG ResIDus? tEMMIE LOVES DoG ReSIDUs!” it must have been a solid hour of handing Temmie Dog Salad and Dog Residue that would spawn MORE FUCKING SHIT EVERY TIME I TOUCHED THEM! Eventually, I had enough to buy the fucking armor, which I did… like a dumb ass. Thankfully, not like a dumbass, I continued selling shit until I hit five thousand. At least being in hell pays well. With a (NOT DEFINETLY NOT) tearful goodbye, I left the shop and headed towards the save point I saw next to the weird ass box. After depositing the fucking hell spawn of god damn ‘dog’ in the box, I saved.

The long and rich history of the noble Temmies fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

Okay… save point… sparkle… we need to talk. Preferably with a psychiatrist as a mediator. Just… whatever, man. What the hell ever. I looked closely at the ‘Temmie Armor’… it was only a white shirt with slightly lopsided print that said “I has ben to TemTem Vilage”. Good to know that ‘Colleg’ education was put to good use.

TEMY ARMOR

+20 Defense

+1 HP per Turn

+Extra Invincibility Frames

_The things you can do with a college education!_

_Heyyyy, I know who to give this to!_ I backtracked, intending to go all the way back to the beginning of Waterfall, when I found Sans in front of a telescope.

“hey, tumble. i’ve been thinking of going into the telescope business! but this telescope is super expensive. it’ll cost 9999G to look through it~!” at my glare he snickered before continuing, “but since i know you, you can go for free!” I looked between Sans and the telescope pointed towards the wall before snorting.

“I think I’m good. The far reaches of _the cavern wall four feet away_ don’t really catch my interest much. But, hey, I got this for you… trust me, you need it.” I thrust the folded shirt into his arms with a smirk, “ _Twenty plus defense and an extra health back per turn, bitch_. Now who knows what you could do! You might even be able to not be such a _punk ass bitch_.” He narrowed his eye sockets at me before laughing, clutching the shirt in his bony grip. And that’s how I left him. Rolling on the floor with laughter. _Punk ass bitch_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay, so I intended to have Undyne appear, but then I realized that I totally have no idea if any of this shit is even in order. Like, I know you encounter Undyne while hiding in the grass, but when? I'll go on ahead and watch Jacksepticeye play through that again to make sure, so if these events aren't in the right order... just, like, ignore it... FUCKING HELL I FORGOT AARON! Okay, so Undyne and Aaron for sure in the next update, even if Waterfall's map is fucked up at this point. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Nabstabook! I know he lives in the area!
> 
> About the whole "why does Sans even care" thing, well, it will be hit on sooner or later, but it's not going to spoil anything for me to elaborate it here a bit. Sans is used to looking after his brother, Papyrus, all on his own. The fact that Tumble would leave Frisk behind, where it is safe, (even though Sans knows they can make it through just fine) is a reminder of how badly he's wanted to do the same with Papyrus. Do you really think that Sans would let Genocide!Frisk/Chara near Papyrus if he could help it? Hell no. Papyrus would be swaddled like the baby bones he is and fucking hid, if he could manage it. So, Tumble is essentially doing what he could not. Protecting their younger sibling from a bad situation. Add that to Toriel's promise, how much fun Sans has winding Tumble up, and that Tumble has the ability to decimate the underground but REFUSES BECAUSE IT'S WRONG TO HIT THOSE WEAKER THAN YOURSELF... well, yeah. Though, I do like the thought that he fools himself into thinking he no longer cares when he never stopped. Could never stop.
> 
> Keep Calm and OC' On!


	12. Be Involved in Your Community

I turned the corner, only to end up back in the same room with Sans _still fucking laughing_. I spun around and tried again. And again. And again. _Son of a bitch!_

“Sans! Stop fucking laughing, why the hell can’t I leave this damn room?!” Sans looked up at me and started laughing again. While my blood pressure rose higher and higher, Sans slowly pieced himself back together again. Sitting up with a drunk looking smile, he chuckled a little bit more.

“heh. i was wondering when you’d notice… so… tumble, how would you like to go through the real waterfall?”

“…what the hell do you mean _‘the real waterfall’_?” Sans’ head lolled to the side a bit.

“well, you know my… know how i use… shortcuts?”

“You mean that bullshit where I blink and I go from Waterfall to Snowdin in the time it takes for me to process I blinked?”

“yeah. heh, well, i may have been making up for the lack of puns with a prank. i opened several… holes, so to speak, through space. you’ve been going through one end of waterfall to another for at least three hours.” I looked down at Sans and sighed.

“Sans… put on the Temmie Armor.” I said in a psuedo-calm before exploding, “SO I CAN FUCKING SMACK YOU UPSIDE THE GOD DAMN HEAD YOU PRICK!”

“haha, sorry kid. i was actually, uh, a little nervous that you would run into undyne, she tends to run through a lot before paps gives his daily report. afterwards, she slowly makes her way to the hotlands. paps should be giving his report sometime soon. it’s not ideal, but at least you have an idea of where you can run into her, rather than anywhere you walk around. ya left really early, considering the time.” I gave Sans a suspicious look and looked at my phone. Huh. Just now noon. I’ll be damned. Fuuuuccckkkk. Now I can’t hit him, even with the Temmie Armor on! God damnit!

“You. Are. So. Lucky I have manners or I _would smack you so fucking hard right now_ …” I gave a bright smile that immediately made Sans suspicious as I drew him into a hug, “ _Fucking shatter bitch!_ ” I snarled as I squeezed him tightly, but unfortunately, rather than being intimidated, he only returned the hug and started laughing.

\--Education is nourishment for the mind—

I was so glad that I stopped at that fucking save point earlier… oh… uh, right. I should probably explain that. Well, I puttered along when suddenly… suddenly, Aaron _flexes in_. I wasn’t aware that steroids were a thing, but this bizarre seahorse clearly indulged himself a little too often. _And the fucking winking, man!_

Oh, that’s not the reason I’m glad for a save point by the way. Aaron was easy to get around by simply flexing until he literally floated/flexed out of the battle. I then entered a room of _no_. It started out subtle. Backlighting behind me, causing me to constantly walk into my own shadow. I carefully made my way through a bunch of weeds, freezing instantly upon hearing Papyrus’s voice.

“U-UNDYNE! I AM HERE FOR MY DAILY REPORT!” wow, Sans, how unusually spot on for someone who seems rather lazy. What occurred next was a very one sided (for me) conversation that ended with Papyrus promising to help Undyne in whatever way he could. If he wasn’t such a cinnamon roll I would have been betrayed. As it was, I nearly died of a heart attack when I heard heavy fucking steps above me the _moment I moved_! Yeah, I’d like a religious experience for five hundred please! I desperately ignored the monster child (wasn’t he farther up ahead before?) and his fan boy-ing. I made my way back through the flower bridge room (HELL NO TO ‘WTF’. HELL. NO. Oh, and Papyrus called and asked me what I was wearing… that wasn’t suspicious or weird, no… not at all) and the wishing room. Past a section of wall that fell at my light scrutiny was a whole other version of weird.

Woshua is a special… something. Really, it is… he… it, whatever a sentient tub of water can be classified as. On the plus side, I feel so _clean_! Which is weird considering I was cleaned, via green colored attack, but whatever. _Just accept that nothing makes sense, Tumble… your sanity depends on it!_

I walked by this weird ass wall version of story time, you know, for people who want nightmares. Nice to know that my soul is inherently more badass than these punk ass bitches, though. It’s after this room that the NOPE happened. I was carried across a small section of water by a small board thing. Then, it happened again.

The subtle foreshadowing of _literal fucking shadows!_ I took five fucking steps when, out of fucking nowhere, a spear stabbed the ground before me. _SON OF A FUCKING BITCH! WHAT THE HELL?!_ Over to my left, from between pillars, a dark shadow with a single glowing eye appeared and began throwing _fucking spears at me_. Did I scream like a little bitch? Maybe. Did I actually manage to make it to the end of the room? Nope.

Ya see, I somehow managed to… trip… again… at the worst. Possible. Moment. _Ever_. Five spears, that’s how many I managed to dodge. Fucking five. The sixth one went right through me, but not until after my spectacular _tumble_ rolled me three feet forward. So, I died, with my legs over my head, my head under my chest, and a spear between my legs and perfectly piercing my heart… this is going to take a while.

\--Insanity, is trying the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result--

So, there I was, holding an umbrella to protect a small monster child and myself from the falling water. (what? Avoiding how I got past Undyne? No! Of course not… I made it past that bitch like a BOSS… after…like, half a dozen times. Whatever! Who even cares? Not me!)

Okay, fine. The final run through that area I had Undyne’s spear throw down. It was a mix of practice (shut the hell up, I swear it was only six!) and luck that I dodged and weaved between spears, using the occasional one already imbedded in the ground as a sort of stripper pole to swing my body out of the way of others while propelling myself forward. Where did I learn that? Uh… well, Frisk may or may not have wanted to do free ballet lessons at the community center in the city and accidentally signed us up for a pole dancing class one time… we fixed it! We did dance lessons for a few months, but uh… yeah, pole dancing class lasted a week. Frisk was surprisingly good at it too, though their poker face game was a little too strong for the teacher to handle. ANYWAY—back to the story! All that ended when I managed to reach yet another section of really tall grass (it’s too dangerous to go alone! Wait, wrong franchise) and I had my second religious experience of the hour when Undyne’s hand snapped out LITERALLY INCHES AWAY FROM ME! Thankfully, it was just that weird monster kid, who was also uninjured but also incredibly star struck.

Later we, monster kid and I, walked in semi-silence as a music box played softly in the distance and water rhythmically hit the umbrella. When we finally reached the end of the leaky hallway, I put away the umbrella in the convenient umbrella stand. A nearby sparkle/save point caught my eye.

The distant tune of the music box that still continues playing fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

That. Is. So. Much. Better. Jesus Christ. _Never again_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I promised some pole dancing! And Aaron! Undyne as well. It's a little short, but I need to write an essay and review Undyne's fight. Thankfully, Sans was too nervous to let Tumble actually progress until AFTER Undyne and Papyrus met, so *phew*, I don't have to rewrite an entire chapter. Isn't that lucky for me? The next chapter will have Undyne's fight and maybe the whole befriending thing! Anyone else thoroughly amused at the thought of child frisk swinging around a pole? What, you didn't think Tumble would keep their sibling at home ALL THE TIME did you? Of course, uh, maybe pole dancing isn't the best extracurricular activity out there... but whatever!
> 
> Keep Calm and OC' On!


	13. How to Be an Adult

For whatever reason, the monster kid gave me a boost up the high ledge and I was off again. _Only to find fucking foreshadowing all over the god damn place._ I was suddenly surrounded by GLOWING SPOTS OF LIGHT HOLY HELL! Spears materialized around me, and the game was one.

“FuCK, fUCK, FuCK! NOT DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION! NOT DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION!” somehow I managed to make it off the fucking bridge of HELL NO in one piece… only to find a dead end. There, with loud fucking foot-steps was Undyne. With a swipe of a spear, the section of bridge I was on collapsed and MY ASS FELL INTO DARKNESS! FUCK YOU, UNDYNE! FUCK. YOU.

\--Freshwater fish usually take on the taste of their watery environment—

How many beds of yellow flowers are there down here? Seriously, I should be a little more than just fucking sore here, I ain’t exactly a dandelion here! And there’s water everywhere. My combat boots were fucking soaked. There was also a shit ton of garbage down here. Farther on, there was another save point.

The trash of the human world flows down the waterfall from some far off source and occasionally makes its way into the underground. The circle of recycling fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

…Okay then. I continued onward, only glancing at the random training dummy before moving forward. I stopped when I heard an odd clacking noise. THE FUCK WAS THAT? I whirled around to find that the training dummy was now orange and had… angry eyes? Okay, seriously, the fuck is the entire underground even on?!

“HAHAHA! Too intimidated to fight me, huh? I am a ghost that lives inside a DUMMY! My cousin used to live inside a DUMMY, too. Until… YOU CAME ALONG! When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat… But the things you SAID…! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! It spooked them right out of their dummy! HUMAN! I’ll scare your SOUL out of your body!”… excuse me, bitch? _Are you insinuating something about me, you weak ass punk?_ Then I was drawn into battle with the son of a bitch. _I will fucking end you—GOD DAMMIT FRISK, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT FUCKING DUMBASSES IF I CAN’T HURT THEM?!_

Apparently, you don’t. You just let the dumbass hurt themselves with their own attacks. Not even upgrading saved them from stupidity. Punk ass bitch. He couldn’t even recall his cousin’s fucking name! The knife was interesting… until revealed he only had one knife. Then he proceeded to flip his shit until…familiar tears rained down? NABSTABLOOK YOU SEXY BASTARD!

“Sorry… I interrupted didn’t I? As soon as I came over, your friend immediately left…” the battle ended, “Oh, well I’m headed home now. Oh, feel free to come with if you want… but no pressure. I understand if you’re busy. It’s fine, no worries. Just thought I’d offer…” he floated on away with me close behind. Up ahead was another sparkly save point and Nabstablook gave me directions to his house. Ya know, in case I wanted to come by, or didn’t. No pressure.

The ghost who perpetually helps out without thinking he is fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

Hell yeah it does! I began going to Nabstablook’s house, uncomfortably aware of my wet shoes squishing loudly. I went past this weird angry-fish shaped house and knocked on Nabstablook’s door. A quiet and vaguely depressed voice told me to come in.

“Hey, sexy Nabs! Thought I’d drop by and maybe dry my shoes while I visit!” the shy ghost seemed so surprised.

“Oh… well, okay, I guess. But only if you want to…”

“Oh trust me, Nabs! You’re my favorite ghost! I’d say monster, but Goat Mom is the best mom and… well, you can’t beat family, ya know?” Nabstablook smiled and nodded.

“Haha, yeah, I get it. Metta doesn’t come around very often anymore, but I know he still cares… or at least, I think he does…” I was in the middle of taking off my socks when I heard that one.

“He better, or I’ll go ghost on his ass! Oh, wait, wrong backstory… well, he won’t be having a very good time in any case!” I padded over to Nabs in the middle of the room, “Hey, what do you do in your free time?” Nabs looked shy and seemed to blush.

“Oh… I usually just float around and make mix tapes. Sometimes, I lay on the floor like garbage and listen to music… wanna join me?” that was a no brainer.

“Hell yeah! Gotta admit though, I’m environmentally aware, and you’re the cutest piece of trash I’ve ever seen! I just wanna _pick you up_ every time I see you!” I winked at Nabs and laid down next to him. At first, I just listened to a very cute soundtrack that for some reason, reminded me of spiders, but then something weird happened. IS NABSABLOOK’S HOUSE OVER A GAS POCKET?! CAUSE I APPEAR TO BE HALLUCINATING THE FUCKING UNIVERSE?! WHAT THE FUCKING HELL, NABS?! I waited several moments before getting back up, the stars fading quickly as Nabs got back up as well.

“Oh… I think your shoes are dry now. You can go if you want, but it was nice of you to stay a while. You can even come back… if you want.” I shook off my growing insanity ( _it only destroys your sanity if you think about it_ ).

“Alrighty then, I guess I’ve been a bother long enough. I’ll try and swing by again with my little sibling, Frisk, after I run an errand. You’ll like them! Bye Nabs! Stay classy!” I shoved on my socks and shoes and headed out.

“O-Oh! Okay! Only if you want though…” I laughed and walked out to the save point, checking in with it.

The eternal beauty of the universe fills me with a sense of PERSERVERANCE.

Thanks save point, for reminding me about that acid trip. With a sigh, I headed to the left and found a duck just standing there, looking out across a large gap of water to the stretch of land on the other side. Okay then. I was about to walk away when a strong force gripped the back of my jacket and slowly lifted me upwards.

“THE FUCKING HELL IS THIS?! Oh… uh… are you going to eat me?” I looked up at the valiantly flapping duck as it carried me to the other bit of land and sat me down. I looked at the happily bouncing duck with worry before moving onwards. ONLY TO FIND MYSELF AT SANS AND HIS FUCKING TELESCOPE! I let out an angry screech and turned around, the sound of Sans laughter chasing me as I got another lift from the duck.

All the way to the right was the area with that really old turtle that kind of looks crazy. Nice to know there’s a prophecy going ‘round about either the savior of monsters or their ending. Really fucking creepy, but whatever. Also, I AM NOT GOING BACK TO FUCKING TEMMIE VILLAGE! HELL. NO.

The room of lingering darkness was pretty cool though. Kind of weird that florescent mushrooms controlled light though. I was immensely glad to be out of there, though, the next room wasn’t exactly a winner either. My shoes got wet again but I managed to find another echo flower. That’s cool.

_“Behind you_. _”_ MY HEART FUCKING STAHPED. I WHIRLED AROUND AND THERE WAS FUCKING UNDYNE. JESUS CHRIST!

“Seven… with the power of seven human souls, our king… King Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god. With that power, ASGORE can finally shatter the Barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity…” I must have tuned Undyne out for a moment, because then, she addressed me, “Human. This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your soul or I’ll tear it from your body.” BITCH COME AT ME—SON OF A BITCH, DON’T IMPALE ME RIGHT OFF THE BAT! THAT SHIT HURTS!

“Undyne!!! I’ll help you fight!!!” monster kid burst out of a nearby patch of grass, glancing at the two of us in surprise, “Yo! You did it! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you! You’ve got front row seats to her fight!... wait! Who’s she fighting?” Undyne grabbed the cinnamon roll and started to drag him away. “Hey! You aren’t gonna tell my parents about this, are you?” and off they went. Wow… kid’s kinda slow to the punch on this whole ‘the person you’ve been walking around with is also a human’.

I didn’t notice a path upwards and the latest instalment in the wish story with the echo flowers. After dropping a few funny lines for the echo flowers I walked through and was also treated to the creepy ass prophecy the monsters have apparently decided also need to be put on the walls. I then walked across this creepy ass bridge, but monster kid came out of nowhere. Apparently he finally got it. He wanted me to insult him so he could hate me. Hell no, bitch! I…I can’t insult a cinnamon roll!

“Please?”

“Sorry, kid. You’ll just have to find it in yourself to hate others like any other adult. With no justifiable reason and only because they are different.” His face fell.

“Aw man! So I have to do it? Uh… y-yo! I… I hate your guts!... Man, I… I’m such a turd. I’m going to go home now.” He turned around and ran but tripped like every other time he started running. Only, this time, instead of falling flat on his face, he DAMN NEAR FELL OFF THE CLIFF! FUCKING HELL MONSTER KID! DON’T WORRY, I’LL SAVE YOUR CINNAMON ROLL ASS! I ran forward and froze as I saw Undyne across the way. Fuck this bitch, I ain’t letting the cinnamon roll die! I ran over and lifted Monster Kid up onto the bridge.

“Jesus, stop running off when you can’t keep your balance! You almost died!” I gave his scaly head a noogie and released him. He seemed really surprised.

“Yo! Y-You saved me!... even after I insulted you!” kid, that wasn’t exactly an insult, “Y-Yo, dude! If you wanna hurt my friend, you have to get through me, first!” surprisingly, Undyne backed off.

“Well, then. I guess Undyne has a soft spot for kids.” I patted the kid’s head, “Thanks, kid, for sticking up for me. But… you should probably go home now.” At least he had the decency to be bashful.

“Haha, yeah! My parents are probably worried sick about me! We’re friends now, right?” I laughed.

“Yeah, sure thing. Try to be careful on the way back home, alright? Try not to trip again. Oh, I’m Tumble, by the way!”

“They call me Monster Kid, or MK! Bye Tumble!” I laughed as he carefully dashed away. What a weird kid. I walked off and tried not to feel the ominous air around the cave up ahead. Turns out, I was right to feel something was up. There, at the top, was Undyne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Undyne's battle is finally upon us! Next time! Ha, Tumble is just trying to get on with their life (I like how despite having no gender SPECIFIED, people go with female. Ha, me too!) Expect some fancy spear action next chapter! Maybe, if there's room, I'll even do some Besties action too! Tumble will see some Genocide!Sans eventually, BTW, but Tumble already has suspicions of Sans being so weak. Tumble knows something's up. Also, yes! Yes I do like the idea of Nabstablook being related to Mettaton, like Mettaton was a ghost given a robotic body! 
> 
> Would you smooch a ghost? Tumble would!


	14. Be Careful with Open Flames

_How the hell did Undyne get up there?_ Okay, so I basically ignored the weird monologue she had going on, but I knew the important bits! They need human SOULs, they have six, and there’s no way I could possibly get past her. Yada yada yada…

“It all started long ago…. YOU KNOW WHAT? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL THAT STORY WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE!?” _Okay, Jesus Christ! No need to fucking yell at me, bitch!_ She tore off her helmet and flung it out into the abyss. _Wait, you mean Undyne isn’t a suit of armor?_ “YOU! You’re standing in the way of everybody’s hopes and deams! Alphys’s history books made me think humans were cool… with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen.” _Exactly what history books WASH DOWN HERE?!_ “BUT YOU? You’re just a coward! Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again! And let’s not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes-schtick!” _excuse you, bitch, did I just hear what I think I just heard?_

“I’m sorry, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET DOWN HERE AND REPEAT THAT, BITCH?! I HAVE BEEN DOING SO GOOD AT NOT KICKING EVERYONE’S ASSES, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY ME? FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE, BITCH! GET YOURSELF A SLICE OF THIS!” this seemed to shock Undyne, but then she started laughing.

“Oh, trying to talk tough NOW ARE WE? Ha! You may as well just give up now! Your continued existence is a crime! Right now, I can feel everyone’s hearts pounding together! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment--”

“Sorry to interrupt, but IS THERE A POINT TO THIS ‘WE ARE ALL ONE/CIRCLE OF LIFE SPEECH’?” Undyne sputtered in anger. She gathered herself, trying to remain calm.

“LET’S END THIS, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! Come forward when you feel prepared!” a sparkly save point caught my eye to my right.

The oddly polite manners of the aggressive Undyne fills me with a sense of GUILT.

…am I being shamed by a save point? FUUUUCCCKKKIIINNGG HELL! I HATE IT WHEN THE SAVE POINT IS RIGHT! I let out a huff and squinted up at Undyne.

“I apologize for being so rude. I’m Tumble, Will Tumble… the uh… human, I guess. If you can scrape together the manners to allow me a moment to prepare myself, I can apologize for snapping like that. It was rude to interrupt.” Undyne seemed startled by this.

“Whatever, human! J-Just come forward when you’re ready!” I glanced at the save point again.

The shared humility between Undyne and I, fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

I nodded and moved forward. Undyne leapt down and the world faded away into battle. With a swipe of her spear my violet heart turned green. I couldn’t seem to actually leave the spot I was in now, though turning was easy. Undyne had 7 attack and… zero defense?! What the hell?!

“As long as your heart is GREEN you cannot escape! Unless you learn to face danger head-on, you won’t last a SECOND against ME!” she tossed a spear at me and I caught it. The hell is this for? Well, I learned real quick when smaller spears came at me from any four directions. It was awkward to handle the unfamiliar weapon at first, but then I got the _swing_ of it. I twirled the spear around, knocking the magic spears into nothingness. It almost reminded me of the training I used to do for street fights.

“Look, I have a promise to keep, so I can’t actually fight you, Undyne!” Undyne just smirked and sent another wave of spears. _Front, back, left, left, right, front, and back_. Each spear was knocked away successfully. A thought occurred to me. “I mean, it’s kind of unfair to fight someone weaker than you anyway! Why don’t you try a little harder, Undyne? I could do this in my sleep!” there we go! Only time will tell if this is a bad idea or not.

“Oh really, now? Well, how about this!” the spears came faster than before. This was actually kind of fun! _Left, right (3), left, back (4), front, left, and then right._ “We’re so close to the sunlight! I won’t back down!” Undyne spun her spear vacantly and my heart returned back to its original color. _Okay, stay and play Dance Dance Revolution or run?_ If I stay any longer I might accidentally smack Undyne out of habit. _Running it is then_. I dashed past her only to have the battle re-engage almost a minute later. I made a good distance, though. Back to the green it is. “You won’t get away this time!”

The spear dance continued.

“No one has ever made it past ASGORE.” I twirled the spear, destroying a _left_ and _right_ spear at the same time before going back to single rotations. The smooth motions of watching my surroundings and reacting without thought was starting to lull me into an aggressive fog. Shit, I might accidentally fuck shit up if I don’t get out of here and clear my head. “Killing you would be an act of MERCY. So stop being so damn resilient!” yeah, that’s what they call me back on the streets. _Resilient as fuck and manic as hell_. I took my chance when Undyne accidentally released my heart again. I dashed off and tried to think.

“Come on, remember your promise! Remember your promise! Remember, remember, remember!” and back into battle it is.

“That was the last time you’ll get away from me! Alphys told me humans were determined…” I was beginning to zone out, barely taking note that some of the spears were switching sides at the last minute. My posture relaxed and my hands grew steady. Undyne’s face began to blur. “I see now what she meant by that!”

“Undyne… I really don’t want to hurt you.” Most of the spears now were the trick spears.

“But I’m determined too!” … “Determined to end this right now!” another volley of spears. My hands began to move to take down my enemy when I heard it. A ringing. “…? HUH?! OF ALL THE TIMES?!” I pulled the phone out of my pocket and answered.

“Yellow, this is Tumble the aggressive cactus, what can I do for you?” I mouthed an apology to Undyne.

“…Tumble, are you okay?” Frisk’s shay voice broke what was left of the aggressive trance.

“Yeah, baby, why? What’s the matter?” I didn’t notice the strange look that crossed Undyne’s face.

“I-I…. I had a bad feeling. I just wanted to check on you. Talk to you later Tumble.” A click was heard and silence reigned.

“Uh… sorry about that. Frisk was just worried… anyway, uh, let’s continue?” Undyne shook herself and grinned.

“YEAH! Gotta admit, you’re pretty good, for a human! Though… you looked a little strange for a moment there. ANYWAY, LET’S GO!” and the volley of spears continued. After that, my heart was red again and I fucking RAN! I went into what was clearly the Hotlands and past a sleeping (why is he sleeping?) Sans! Glancing behind me I noticed Undyne stop and berate Sans. _Serves you right, prick! He’s fucking everywhere, I swear!_ I made it across the bridge when Undyne lumbered up behind me, clearly suffering under the heat.

“Uh… you okay there, Undyne?” Undyne huffed and began to sweat before collapsing, “Nevermind.” I looked over and saw a water cooler. _That’ll do it_. I went over, got a cup of surprisingly cool water and dumped it on Undyne’s head. I never had a chance to notice before, but Undyne was some really cool fish-chick. A base skin tone of blue with vivid red highlights on her ear fins and hair. Hair? Uh… moving on. Undyne recovered remarkably fast and stood up. I offered a second cup of water, which Undyne took with a strange look, before dashing off once again. _I guess the fight’s over now?_

I backtracked to Sans and sneered at him.

“may i interest you in a hot dog?” he said smugly.

“Sans…”

“yes?”

“You don’t have fucking eyelids, how could you have been sleeping?” Sans faked an astonished look.

“why, tumble! i never took you for a _race_ -ist!”

“Can it, baldy! How many fucking jobs do you even have?!”

“hey, a guy’s gotta pay the bills somehow!” I made the ‘I’m watching you’ hand gesture as I walked off, “right back at’cha!” I let out a frustrated huff and stalked off. A ringing stopped me.

“Yellow, this is girl with an attitude, how may I _help you?_ ”

“OH! HELLO TUMBLE! I HAD A GREAT IDEA! YOU AND I SHOULD HANG OUT WITH UNDYNE! COME OVER TO HER HOUSE WITH ME!” Papyrus hanged up before I could respond. Fucking hell. Looks like I have to play nice with my would-be murderer. I walked back past Sans to head over to Waterfall.

“hey, where you going? the river person can take you through a shortcut.” I glared at Sans.

“You have a weird nickname for yourself, Sans. Really weird…” Sans laughed and shook his head.

“nah, just up ahead is this guy who does nothing but ride their boat between hotlands, waterfall, and snowdin. doesn’t charge nothin’, just likes to ride their boat.” I glare at Sans.

“If this is a prank, you better be wearing that Temmie Armor!” I then turned around and headed for the illusive River Person. Fucking hell!

\--Friends are better than enemies, but aggressive enemies turned friends are more fun for sure—

The River Person was weird. A good weird, like most everything down here, but still really weird. “Come again! Tra la la~” I made my way to where Papyrus had texted me directions to…

…So, I guess the weird angry fish house was Undyne’s house. Huh… it uh… suits her, I guess. That punk ass mad dummy was sitting outside. (WHAT? IT’S A LIVING!) Papyrus stood anxiously outside the front door.

“Hey, Papyrus!” his eyes seemed to shine as he bounded over to me.

“TUMBLE! I HAVE A GRAND PLAN TO MAKE YOU AND UNDYNE FRIENDS! FOLLOW MY LEAD AND GIVE UNDYNE THIS!” Papyrus exclaimed as he quickly knocked on Undyne’s door.

“Yo, Papyrus, glad you could make it!”

“HELLO UNDYNE! YES, I HAVE MADE IT TO OUR PRIVATE LESSONS! I EVEN BROUGHT A FRIEND!” god dammit you precious cinnamon roll, really?! Undyne’s eyes narrowed at me and her face became incredibly strained. Undyne now wore a black muscle shirt and pants, her eye patch gone.

“H-Hello… C-Come o-On in.” Undyne gestured us inside and closed the door, her face becoming more and more strained, “Papyrus—“

“UNDYNE, I MUST USE THE BATHROOM! I WILL RETURN SHORTLY!” he then gracefully launched himself out the nearest window, completely shattering the glass. Really, Papyrus? Really? Undyne and I both looked at the window with a distinctly exasperated sigh, before she turned to me with a snarl.

“What?! Come here to gloat at your victory?”

“No. I just can’t say no to the cinnamon roll.”

“IF YOU WEREN’T MY GUEST RIGHT NOW, I WOULD DESTROY YOU!” Undyne exclaimed angrily. From the broken window, Papyrus spoke up, slowly climbing back in.

“I SUPPOSE IT WAS WORTH A TRY! I THOUGHT FOR SURE UNDYNE WAS UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF BEFRIENDING THE HUMAN, TUMBLE. COME ON, TUMBLE, I WILL SHOW YOU OUT.” Undyne stomped heavily, her eyes practically on fire.

“A CHALLENGE?! Alrighty then, I accept! HUMAN! BY THE TIME THIS VISIT IS OVER, WE. WILL. BE. BESTIES!” Papyrus took his cue and launched himself back out the window again. Son of a bitch, who let this cinnamon roll out on his own again? Seriously, he needs supervision.

“Undyne…” I dodged a spear thrown by a rather demented looking Undyne.

“YOU ARE THE GUEST! Please, have a seat!” I carefully sat down at the table to my right and tried not to do anything, for fear of impalement. Maybe I should have visited a save point before this? “Would you like something to drink?” Undyne asked sweetly before giving an almighty stomp, refreshment options falling smoothly onto the kitchen counter from the ceiling. I briefly stood up, but a GIANT FUCKING SPEAR DECIMATED THE TABLE I WAS SITTING AT BEFORE I COULD MOVE! HOLY FUCK! WAS THAT THE LIGHT FROM THE MAGIC SPEAR OR A PERSONAL RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE?! “NO! You are the guest… just point with the spear, and I will get it for you!” I hefted the spear up and pointed towards the tea. It seemed like the appropriate option. While the water was boiling, Undyne talked about her encounter with Asgore and her training with him up until she became leader of the royal guard.

“Uh… by the way, you were pretty good in that fight, earlier! I almost couldn’t believe how fast you were! What sort of training did you do?” She handed me a hot cup of tea and sat down on the other side of the broken table.

“Oh… well, you see, my sibling and I had some financial troubles about four years ago. I took up whittling and wood sculpting but that just didn’t cut it in the winter. So… I went into the city and got some use out of my temper. I went to a gym that hosted underground, that is to say, kind of illegal betting fights, and trained a bit. I usually always won and Frisk and I didn’t have such a hard time all of a sudden. Not that Frisk knows what I went into the city for, of course. They kind of don’t like violence. That was actually them who called earlier.” I took a sip of my slightly cooler tea, “Good tea… ha. If they hadn’t of called then, well… I might not have been able to stop myself.”

“Uh… stopped yourself?” I jerked my head up and looked at Undyne.

“Oh, well… sometimes, the fights would get really intense. It wasn’t unusual for competitors to play dirty. Anything from outside distractions to having actual weapons was pretty much the norm. Part of my training consisted of creating a… zone so to speak, where I could _fight back_ _with no regard to the health of my opponent or myself_. The fights were always knock-out fights, but as of late I’ve been getting scouted for ‘sudden death’ fights. They may pay better, but… I’m not a murderer. Fighting is one thing, but taking a life is not something I can do. For Frisk’s sake, if nothing else.” I coughed for a moment to rid myself of dark memories, “Besides, they made me promise not to purposefully harm any creature down here. That phone call snapped me out of my zone just in time. Heh.” I chuckled without any humor. Undyne looked shocked and considerate.

“You know… I’ve been training Papyrus for a while now, but I don’t think he’ll ever get into the royal guard! Not that he’s weak or anything! He’s actually crazy strong! But he’s too soft hearted to really go at anyone. That’s actually why I have been giving him cooking lessons… WAIT A MINUTE! PAPYRUS SKIPPED OUT ON HIS COOKING LESSONS! THAT MEANS…. YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE HIS PLACE!” a heavy stomp of the floor deposited a couple of tomatoes on the kitchen counter. Dragging me out of my seat, Undyne led me into the kitchen and towards the fruit/vegetables.

“Uh… Undyne?” Undyne completely ignored me.

“STEP ONE! YOU MUST PULVERIZE THE VEGETABLES FOR THE SAUCE! PUT ALL YOUR PASSION INTO IT! THE VEGETABLES ARE YOUR ENEMY!” I gave Undyne my best ‘Frisk-face’ and gently caressed the tomatoes. Undyne let out a loud laugh.

“HAHAHA! Like this!” and her fist _fucking decimated the tomatoes. The fresh blood of innocent vegetables bathed the small section of kitchen counter._ Woah, there, let’s back off a bit. “We’ll scrape that off the walls for the sauce later!” another loud stomp and pot fell onto the stove. “STEP TWO! EMPTY THE NOODLES INTO THE POT! PUT ALL YOUR PASSION INTO IT!” I continued the Frisk-face and casually slid the noodles into the pot.

“HAHAHA! Close enough. STEP THREE! BOIL THE NOODLES!” I turned on the heat, “HOTTER! BURN YOUR ENEMIES TO THE GROUND!” I turned the stove up a little more, “HOTTER! HOTTER! POUR ALL YOUR BURNING PASSION INTO IT!” I turned the stove up even higher. Fire now engulfed the pot. “WAIT! THAT’S TOO HOT!” but it was too late.

\--Only you can prevent wildfires—

_Only fire lives here now_. Undyne and I looked at her burning house.

“Haha, that got a little out of hand. I had a good time, though! You’re pretty okay, for a human, Tumble! I’m going to go and bunk with Papyrus! See ya later!” and off she went. _That is one crazy six-pack of fish sticks_. Out of courtesy, I pulled out my phone to call Papyrus and warn him.

“HELLO, TUMBLE! WHAT ARE YOU—UNDYNE? WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?” I could hear Undyne’s heavy breathing through the phone, but not her words, “YOUR HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE! Oh. TUMBLE! UNDYNE’S HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE! DID YOU KNOW THAT? I DIDN’T KNOW THAT.” Papyrus then hung up.

“…Never change, you special cinnamon roll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, classes start on Thursday, so expect the updates to slow down by then! Hah! Alphys and Mettaton is up next! Hah, man, I think Tumble is cussing less, but it's really hard to tell. Also, I firmly believe that Undyne can give anyone a religious experience! ANYONE. Also, does anyone read this shit? Like, for real? (notes, not chapters, I can actually check that shit).


	15. Game Time is Bonding Time

The River Person dropped me back off in the Hotlands and I headed back to that save point.

The continued presence of science, even amongst this fairytale-like land, fills me with PERSERVERENCE.

I walked into the lab, ignoring the implications of a fairytale land, and tried to figure out how to open the door. Turns out, it just slides open. About five steps in the lights came on and I nearly shit myself at what I saw to my left. A giant ass TV with… me on it. Shut the hell up!... Is that what my hair looks like from the back? Jesus, curls don’t play nice when they go from a humid environment to a fucking volcano! I walked forward (don’t think about the stalker implications… don’t think about it!) and a door opened farther in. From that door a… yellow lizard/dinosaur hybrid came out. They had glasses and a white lab coat, but no shoes on their clawed feet. Their head reminded me of a crocodile, but with a shorter snout. Layered bit of skin seemed to form a spiky haired silhouette on the back of their head. They seemed to be surprised to see me.

“Oh. My god. I didn’t expect you to show up so soon!” their voice was a little strained and high pitched rumble, “I haven’t showered, I’m barely dressed, it’s all messy, and… ummm… H-h-hiya! I’m Dr. Alphys. I’m Asgore’s royal scientist!” they also seemed incredibly dorky and nervous.

“Hello, Dr. Alphys! I’m Will Tumble… though, you may have already known that.” I looked back pointedly towards the large tv screen.

“Oh! Uh…. Please, call me Alphys! I swear I’m not one of the ‘bad guys’! I’ve just been… watching… you… and… oh dear. This looks a little bad, doesn’t it?” she nervously shuffled her feet, “I’ve been watching your fights… your friendships…. Everything! Ahah… I was originally going to stop you, but… I guess something about watching someone’s progress on a screen really makes you root for them! S-So, um, now I want to help you! Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way, right to Asgore’s castle, no problem! Well, actually, umm, there’s just a tiny issue. A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton.” _Why_ _does_ _that_ _sound_ _familiar_? “Originally, I built him to be an entertainment robot! Umm, you know, like a robotic TV star or something. Recently, I decided to make him more useful. You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like, um… Anti… anti-human combat features? Of c-course, when I saw you coming, I immediately decided… I have to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so. And, umm… Now he’s an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?” really Alphys? Really?

“Okay, that clearly can’t be good… Really cool that you built a robot though, you know, while I can still appreciate the existence of one without a clear threat to my life.” Alphys blushed a startling red and seemed to get even more nervous.

“But, umm, hopefully we won’t run into him!” right on cue, I heard a loud thudding noise from the wall.

“Okay then, clearly you just jinxed us…”

“Um… did you just hear something?”

“Yeah… the sound of plot.” A series of metallic pounding noises ensued and suddenly… there he was. Mettaton… the… uh… Rolling Calculator. With arms.

“Oh no!”

“ _OOHHHH YES!”_ how about hell no, please? “WELCOME BEAUTIES… TO TODAY’S QUIZ SHOW!!!” colorful lights swirled around us and a sign that said ‘game show’ hovered above Mettaton. “OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT’S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW!” _I can already tell it’s going to be a bad time… why does that phrasing sound ominous to me all of a sudden?_ “EVERYONE GIVE A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT! NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS? NO PROBLEM! IT’S SIMPLE! THERE’S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY… OR YOU DIE!” oh damn, I just thought I’d miss out on new car. I turned towards Alphys.

“Alphys, this is still really impressive, but I don’t like you right now…” Alphys looked really depressed, “I hate game shows… I wonder if Goat Mom has a TV?” before I could have an answer, I entered a battle. Mettaton and Alphys stood next to each other and the text box appeared. I checked his stats. Huh… I could actually smack this bitch. 10 attack and 999 defense. Cool. I could actually smack a bitch if I wanted… wait, fuck… that still counts.

“Let’s start with an easy one!” he rolled to the side and a question appeared, “What’s the prize for answering correctly?” I looked at my option. I marked out money and a car in my head and glanced at Alphys. Up there, Alphys made a ‘D’ with her hands. Okay then. I’ll try not to look up there too often. I don’t like cheating that much.

“D: More questions.”

“Right! Sounds like you get it!” for my turn, I just MERCY’d him. I didn’t feel like smacking Mettaton and breaking my hand on his metal box-head.

“Here’s your terrific prize! What’s the king’s full name?” this one I didn’t even need to think about.

“C: Asgore Dreemurr.”

“Correct! What a terrific answer!” MERCY “Enough about you. Let’s talk about me!” oh joy. One of those famous people? “What are robots made of?” I recalled the library book and chuckled.

“B: Metal and magic.” Honestly, Mettaton’s not a girl. _Sugar and spice…_

“Here’s another easy one for you!” a long math question appeared next to him. I looked it over and laughed. Really?

“D: 32.058 minutes. I never could afford a calculator when I needed one so I did a lot of mental math…” I muttered at the end, winking at Alphys.

“Don’t count on your victory…” the next question, “How many flies are in this jar?” I looked at the jar for a moment before deciding and double checking with Alphys.

“A: 54.”

“Correct! We’re so lucky today! Let’s play a memory game!” half an image showed up, “What monster is this?” well, normally, I’d say a frog (it’s called a Froggit?) but this bitch is so full of himself that it’s probably…

“D: Mettaton.” The image zoomed out and it was, in fact, Mettaton with a Froggit on his chest.

“I’m so flattered you remembered!” _bitch_ , “But can you get this one? Would you smooch a ghost?” the answer was the same for all of them… _wait a second_.

“HECK YEAH! Mettaton… METTA! You’re related to Nabstablook, aren’t you!?” I laughed and looked at Alphys, which makes me laugh harder.

“Great answer! I love it!.... and yes, Nabstablook is my cousin.” Mettaton answers offhandedly at the end, “Here’s a simple one! How many letters are in Mettaton nnnnnnn…” and it continued on. I did a little mental calculation. _Original amount of letters, how long it takes for another letter to appear… oh!_

“C… it keeps going up, so you’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Of course, that was easy for you!” _actually that one gave me a headache,_ “Time to break out the big guns! In the dating simulation video game “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie” what is Mew Mew’s favorite food?” I didn’t even get the chance to think on it, Alphys just exploded.

“OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE!!! IT’S SNAIL ICE CREAM!!!!!” and she went on for several moments about the particular situation until she remembered where she was, “Ahah… ha… oops?”

“Alphys. Alphys. Alphys… You aren’t helping our contestant, are you? OOOOHHH! You should have told me. I’ll ask a question… You’ll be sure to know the answer to! Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?” Alphys was shaking her head, begging me not to answer. There wasn’t a time limit, but I had a feeling that anything I answer will get a response.

“Well, while the large amount of observing is suspicious… I really don’t know.” Mettaton jumped on the answer.

“Correct! Alphys dreams of NO ONE! She dreams of an imaginary individual who will one day sweep her away…” and so the asshole train continued about the vague romantic dreams of just about any girl in the world, “The show has no dramatic tension. We can’t go on like this… but… but… This was just the pilot episode! Next up, more drama! More romance! More bloodshed! Next time, darlings.” And Mettaton literally shot off into the air. The battle was over.

“Well… that was certainly something. T-That last question… he wasn’t supposed to ask that one…” _what’s that supposed to mean? Is this a set up? Well, Alphys is clearly an otaku… so I guess this makes sense_.

“Alphys… I like honest people… just thought I’d mention it.” I started heading out when Alphys stopped me.

“Wait! Let me give you my ph-phone number! T-Then… m-maybe… if you need help, I could… Wh… Where’d you get that phone?! It’s ANCIENT! It doesn’t even have texting! Wait a second, please!” and there went my phone. Alphys dashed away and the sounds of mechanical tinkering filled the air for several minutes. “Here, I upgraded it for you! It can do texting, items, it’s got a keychain… I even signed you up for the underground’s No. 1 social network! Now we’re officially friends! Ehehehe!... By the way, how did you know all those answers? I thought for sure the number ones would stump you!” I shuffled on my feet a little.

“Well, I was homeschooled, and I couldn’t afford to have anyone question my suitability for homeschooling, so I did my best to make sure they didn’t. What did you mean by ‘items’?”

“Well, I guess being human you wouldn’t know. Monster technology is pretty advanced. We can store things on devices like our phones. Quite a lot, actually. It’s science magic hybrid technology that allows it to…. Anyway. Eheheh… ehe… he. I’m going to the bathroom.” And Alphys was off. Damn that dino can move! I headed back to the save point rather than moving forward.

The fact that Alphys will eventually have to tell the truth fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

Damn right it does, sparkly save point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, so yeah, Considering all it would take is just ONE concerned adult to discover that Tumble's parents skipped out, Tumble would do just about anything it takes to make sure no one ever thinks to check. Being really good at school work was just a stepping stone to that.


	16. Give to Your Local Community

Alright, so I am completely flipping my shit over this mobile storage unit thing.

            “HOW THE FUCKING HELL DOES THIS TINY ASS PHONE FIT MY ENTIRE JACKET INTO IT?! DON’T ANSWER THAT ALPHYS, JUST LET MY VIEWS ON REALITY CRUMBLE IN FUCKING PEACE!” I let out a breathless scream of despair and sat in the corner of Alphys’s lab.

“Uh… Tumble, shouldn’t you be going soon?” Alphys asked me nervously.

“Fucking hell… steroid horses… fucking space altering phones… god damn Sans… probably his fault… what the hell is even up with this place?” I stand up suddenly and pull out my phone.

“Uh… w-who are you calling?” I look Alphys in the eyes and press the call button.

“Goat Mom.” Alphys suddenly gets a very strange look on her face and wanders off. I distinctly hear her mutterings as she left.

“Did the human break?... This might not be a good idea after all…”

“Hello, my child!”

“Ah! Goat Mom! Help me! My sanity is crumbling! My views on reality are shattering! A calculator is trying to kill me?!” my voice is high pitched right now and very much strained.

“A… calculator? (When I said monsters would try and kill them, I certainly didn’t imagine a _calculator_ being on that list)… You can always come home, Tumble. Frisk misses you greatly, and I made another pie and a scarf while you were gone!” ah, there it is, the feeling of normalcy began sweeping through me.

“Aha… no, I need to see this through… I just needed to… call you, I guess. I feel better already! Like… I don’t know… like, I can do this, you know?” a very amused chuckle drifted pleasantly through the phone.

“I see, my child. Well, I will be here if you need me. Just a call away, good bye my child!”

“Bye, Goat Mom! Tell Frisk I love them and give their hair a good ruffle for me! They may act like they don’t like it, but I know they love it~!”

“Alright, I guess I’ll F- _risk_ , it! Just for you!” I let out a laugh and allowed the line to go dead. Yeah. I can do this.

\--Sanity is more like a speedbump on the road of life. Easier to cross over at a slow pace, but much more fun at high speeds—

Okay, the unneccesary amount of traps in this place is ridiculous! Lasers? Really? Who were they worried about? The Core powers the entire underground! All these monsters are fucking pansies! Who. Is. Going. To. Sabotage. Shit?! And Alphys really needs to stop posting shit so often. Like, I appreciate the thought of a phone call, but Alphys’s awkward self can’t manage an actual phone conversation very well. Clearly. I’d also like to mention that the monsters here are really weird. That airplane? Tsunderplane, I think? Yeah… I just… what is this place on? The walking volcano? Cute, but still really weird.

I knew there was going to be trouble when I walked into a dark room. _I knew it_. As it turns out, Mettaton was doing a cooking show. _How nice, but isn’t the SOUL thing a little phoned in and specific for a gourmet option? Like, you want my SOUL to open the barrier, not to fucking eat!_

“W-W-What if someone’s vegan?”

“You mean, a vegan-friendly substitute?” and this _totally not convenient_ twist somehow warranted a giant fucking pillar used as a counter and a god damn jet pack. Is it cool that a jet pack can fit in my new phone? _Very_. Is it still incredibly convenient? FUCKING YES! ALPHYS, WATCH BETTER ANIME IF YOU THINK THIS SHIT IS SUBTLE! And how does _that_ end?

“Haven’t you ever seen a cooking show? I baked the cake ahead of time! So forget it!” and off the special fucking snowflake goes! _I swear to god, Mettaton, Nabs cousin or not, I will take a sand blaster to your face! We’ll see how your ratings are when no one can tell what the colorful squares of YOUR FUCKING FACE ARE DOING ANYMORE!_

There’s another sparkly save point, thank god.

The ominous structure in the distance looms ahead, I am almost there, I am filled with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

Okay, now suddenly everything is really ominous… I leave like nothing’s wrong with the world and cue the puzzles. Fucking puzzles man… you’d think all the denizens of this god damn place lost their minds with how inconvenient all these puzzles are! The fact that there are elevators in this god damn place is a cheerful thought though. Even if I am still waiting for the god damn truth from Alphys. I was trying to figure out where to go when it hit me.

“SON OF A BITCH! IT WAS FRISK! THE LAMP LOOKED LIKE FRISK!” _holy hell, man! That shit has just been haunting me forever!_ As a clue to my broken mental state, I then continued like nothing was wrong. I did give Sans an evil look at his hot dog stand though. _How many fucking jobs does he have?! And why do I feel like I’d see him at his other stands if I ran back over to them?_ As though sensing my mental distress he gives me an extra wide grin… somehow. That fucking smug look in his eyes painfully bright. _Bastard._ At least Papyrus is still being a cinnamon roll. _Though it’s a little weird he took a picture of himself and put sunglasses on his imaginary muscles_. _Just a little_.

Alphys… she tries… I know she does, but calling me to remind me to hit a switch while I’m on a moving path does not help me, Alphys. It just doesn’t. Thankfully, I only needed to press two of them… *sigh*… Thankfully, she went to the bathroom after that. Unfortunately, the next puzzle kind of seemed like it was designed by a sadist. I seriously had to go through by the fucking power of _steam? Really?_ After that special slice of hell I found another save point. Looks like the mouse saga continues.

The fact that someone thought well enough of the mouse to leave cheese in a computerized safe inexplicably fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

Someone really needs to stop fucking with the mouse population down here. And Alphys… please stop updating about your anime obsession. I don’t have any damn clue what the fuck you’re talking about.

“Hey you! Stop!” I turn around and two vaguely familiar guys in black suits of armor approach me.

“We’ve, like, received an anonymous tip about a human wearing a flannel shirt. They told us they were wandering around Hotland right now… I know, sounds scary huh? Well, just stay chill. We’ll bring you someplace safe, ok?”… seriously? I follow them for a few moments, because why not at this point, when one of them stops.

“Huh? What is it bro? The shirt they’re wearing?.... like, what about it?” they both turned to look at me, “Bro… Are you thinkin… what I’m thinkin?” _son of a bitch these monsters need to stop being cinnamon rolls_. “Bummer, this is, like… mega embarrassing. We, like, actually totally have to kill you and stuff.” And so yet another battle begins. I had a feeling MERCY wouldn’t quite do it this time around.

\--Love thy neighbor… thy sexy, sexy neighbor—

I WAS RIGHT. THIS SHIT IS WAY TOO WEIRD! Okay, so I’m glad these two are made for each other and all, but the whole cleaning the armor and awkward gay crush thing damn near killed me. At least it was kind of sweet… and hilarious… but mostly mentally scaring. _Random stranger’s sweaty ass chest is not something I wanted to see up close and personal today_.

“I hope you two appreciate how awkward this whole thing was for me… and congrats or whatever.” They at least had the decency to look embarrassed as they shuffled away. I continued forward, Alphys finally remembering what she was originally doing, just in time for another encounter with fucking Mettaton.

“…Our correspondent is out there, reporting live! Brave correspondent! Please find something newsworthy to report! Our ten wonderful viewers are waiting for you!!” I stumble along in the dark and find something… rectangular and made of paper, “Oh no!! That movie script!!! How’d??? That get there??? It’s a super-juicy sneak preview of my latest guaranteed-not-to-bomb film: Mettaton the Movie XXVIII—“

“Is it a thrilling movie about how you remember your god damn roots and visit your family a little more frequently? Cause I think I would watch that… for Nabstablook.” I heard the sound of a jammed printer and what I guessed to be a fax machine.

“CORRESPONDENT, WE ARE LIVE!!! FOUL LANGUAGE ISN’T ALLOWED ON AIR!” I had had it up to fucking _here_ with this bullshit, I swear to god. As though sensing something, Mettaton immediately cuts to the part where he tries to kill me, “OH! IT APPEARS AS THOUGH THE FUTURE BLOCKBUSTER IS DEFINETELY A BOX OFFICE BOMB! IN FACT, EVERYTHING IN THE ROOM IS A BOMB! EVEN MY W O O R R D D SSS!” and loud explosions filled the room. _Today’s bullshit of convenient technology and phoned in danger brought to you by Dr. Alphys and Mettaton. With love… or maybe LOVE. Can’t quite tell yet._ Thankfully, Alphys does deactivate the big bomb while Mettaton was doing his monologue, but only after I scramble around to deactivate the other bombs with my _totally convenient_ phone. _Don’t think I didn’t notice you save Alphys’s ass with your sudden exclamation/exposition, dumbass._

I leave that area, and after a somewhat sweet reassurance from Alphys, I continue on my way. I don’t entirely trust Alphys just yet. I get in the elevator and press for level 3. When I get out, I’m not sad to see the lava pit below me gone, but it is kind of dark around here. Walking further forward, I see something kind of familiar and weird. There, behind a stand, is a… Spider Girl. No, seriously. This chick has black pigtails, five kinda scary eyes, and pale purple skin. She had a rather cute dress on, but the products on the table looked exactly like the ones sold in the ruins. Some weird dude stood a few feet away from the table, staring at a donut in his hand like it just whispered dark and unimaginable secrets to him. The hell happened to him?

“Welcome to our parlor, dearie~! Interested in some spider pastries? All proceeds go to real spiders~!” her voice was wispy with a touch of ‘buy my shit or I’ll eat you’. In short, she’s the perfect Girl Scout. I looked at the webs and sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh, wow. Inflation sucks ‘round here, doesn’t it? I bought a few in the Ruins all the way past Snowdin, you know the place? I almost missed it, but then I saw the signs and got curious… I think I still have a few on me, actually, hold on.” I pulled off my bag and looked into it. Yep, next to the B-Scotch Pie. I took a bite out of one and closed up my bag. It’s actually been a while since I last ate. Huh. Didn’t even notice. The spider girl blinked, each set of eyes off in their exact timing. “Oh! I’m sorry, how rude of me! I’m Tumble! I’d ask how the donuts were made, but I don’t think I really want to know…” I smiled and held out my hand. She smiled ( _It’s rude to think that she’s creepy but… damn man, chills_ ) and clasped my hand, shaking softly.

“I’m Muffet. A pleasure~! It’s nice to see a kind and giving human!” speaking of which, I may want to donate something, I just have a feeling.

“Ha, well, I have to skedaddle… and I don’t have enough to buy a Spider Donut, but I can still just donate some money, right?” At the puzzled nod I smiled and handed about 300G to Muffet, “Good luck with whatever all this is for, Muffet!” I waved goodbye and walked onwards. Even more puzzles… great. Alphys even invited me to watch her favorite TV show…. Which was nice, but seriously, Alphys. The truth would be even nicer sometime in the near future. After those puzzles were solved I found another sparkly save point.

The continued entrepreneurship of spiders fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

Yeah… let’s go with that. I had an ominous feeling about the long corridor of cobwebs. My feet seemed to drag through the thick blanket of webbing and I could hear whispers as I continued onward, my feet too heavy to actually run with at that point.

_“We heard there was a human who hated spiders.”_

_“We heard that a human wearing flannel enjoyed ripping the legs off of spiders.”_

_“Someone paid a lot of gold for that human’s SOUL.”_

_“…But they must have meant a different human. YOU seem to be a kind and giving human!”_

_“Feel free to visit anytime, though!”_

I KNEW IT. I FUCKING KNEW IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO DONATE. NEVER DOUBT A GIRL SCOUT. _EVER_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! I... uh, may have been a little sleep deprived during part of this, but my beta/roommate/adopted-daughter-who's-older-than-me-but-whatever gave it the green light, so I guess this is alright. Ha! I... uh, was tempted to do the hot dog thing with Sans but I can't really imagine Tumble actually LETTING Sans put one hot dog on their head, let alone 29. I also didn't imagine that Tumble WOULDN'T mention the other Spider Bake Sale, and considering just mentioning you have bought a Spider Donut would give the money-centered spider girl a moment of pause. Actually having proof that you contributed to REAL spiders? Yeah, she'll let you through. I can write a small gag chapter about if Tumble did get into the fight with Muffet, but it would be pretty pointless in my opinion. (Literally, my headcanon is that the magic can't work if your heart is already that color. Like, yeah, you may already be inclined to do that, such as green SOULs not wanting to run away, but the magic can't gain any control or purchase over a SOUL if there isn't anything to change first. So, it would literally be awkward Muffet trying to figure out how to use her attacks without being able to force Tumble to stay on purple lines. Not to mention her spiders and shit need that line to zip around... so, yeah. Just awkward silence until the telegram comes in).  
> Also, i'm glad you guys appreciate the Save Point thing I had going on. I didn't MEAN to have it, it just... happened. Oh, and fair warning: THIS IS TRUE PACIFIST PLAYTHROUGH, SO PREPARE FOR THE EMOTIONAL ANGST BUT IT WON'T STOP THERE. Yeah, we need to fix the time loop before Tumble and Frisk can finally get THE HELL OUT... so... uh... (P R E P A R E F O R G E N O C I D E A N D C H A R A.... A N D S A N S. I T ' S G O N N A B E A B A D T I M E F O R E V E R Y O N E.)


	17. Keeping a Secret is Never Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to just pull up "Battle Scars" by Paradise Fears if you don't want to read it yourself when it appears. PREPARE FOR FORESHADOWING AND ANGST.

In the next room, the first thing I noticed was a Mettaton poster. I immediately went back and saved.

The large stage presence of Mettaton fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

Well… not entirely accurate, but I guess you can call it that. I walked forward and found myself on a set. The backdrop was of the moon and stars and there was a balcony with a lot of stairs and a single trailing vine up the balcony. Three guesses as to what will happen next and the first two don’t fucking count.

“Oh my! That human… Could it be?.... My one true love?” _dear god strike me down now_ … _is this bitch wearing a dress?_ _Seriously?_

“Actually it isn’t. I think we need to see other people.” My words were simultaneously ignored and not heard as the god damn calculator _began singing and gliding down the stairs… if by gliding I mean thunking down each step with the grace of a vacuum cleaner, that is_. _Fucking hell man, this shit is embarrassing to watch_. I didn’t really listen to Metta’s tin voice weirdly singing about a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ romance between him and I. I already saw where this was going. Where did they even get flower petals? Oh, wait, they’re just pink bits of paper. Nevermind. _Though the trap door was a surprise._ “On no! Whatever shall I do? My love has been cast away into the dungeon. A dungeon with a puzzle so dastardly, my paramour will surely perish!” _I ain’t your anything, bitch!_ “O, heavens have mercy! The horrible colored tile maze! Each colored tile has its own sadistic function. For example, a green tile sounds a noise, and then you must fight a monster. Red tiles will… actually, wait a second. Didn’t we see this puzzle about a hundred rooms ago? That’s right. You remember all the rules, don’t you?” _wait, there’s a chance I could get past this and not have to deal with YOUR FUCKING SHIT? Well then, time to get creative_. “Great… Then I won’t waste your time repeating them!! Oh, and you’d better hurry. Because if you don’t get through in 30 seconds… you’ll be incinerated by these jets of fire!! Ahahahahaha! Ha… ha… My poor love! I’m so filled with grief, I can’t stop laughing! Good luck, darling!” _yeah, desperate times call for desperate measures._ I sprinted over and glanced over the tiles. _Yeah, I could do this._ So, with a running jump, I proceeded to jump to every safe color I could. _Pink, over red, pink, pink, yellow, across to blue, blue, pink, over green, across to jump over the blue, across to other yellow, pink… behold, the power of FUCKING JUMPING AND NOT GIVING A SHIT!_ Thankfully, I did remember that blue was okay unless I had stepped on orange, and yellow would be the best because of piranhas though it did electrocute you (even blue tile next to it), and red was basically a wall. Pink is totally safe and I went to any other option to avoid a green because _fuck that shit_. Did I jump over tiles completely? Yes. Yes I did. If Mettaton has a problem with it, then maybe he should act a little better and not totally ignore how a love interest would really act when confronted with the possible death of their one true love. Wouldn’t that be a page turner? _Decent fucking acting?_ I finally made it to safe harbor with five seconds to spare.

“Thank you, my love, for your _undying support in these difficult times_.” I said in the most monotone, Frisk-voice I could. _Did I actually avoid battling Mettaton? Hell no. Did I get a fucking refund? Also no._ But thankfully, Alphys had installed A SUPER FUCKING WEIRD APP THAT LITERALLY CHANGED MY SOUL YELLOW, FLIPPED IT, AND LET IT SHIT OUT BULLETS. DO I NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR FOR THAT? A _SOUL_ DOCTOR?!

“…it’s strange but… can I tell you something? I didn’t like myself very much. For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw-up. L-Like I couldn’t do a-anything w-without… W-without ending up letting everyone down. B-But! Guiding you has made me feel… a lot better about myself. So… thanks for letting me help you…. uh—“

“Alphys, I need to stop you there. We really need to talk.” I slowly walked past the now gray-scale tiles and continued, “When I started on this journey, my only intention was to figure out if it was possible to get past the barrier. I’ve met a lot of different people in that short time. People who are absolutely precious… people who I want to smack really hard… what could possibly be the most exhausting option for a ‘Bestie’ ever. Everyone I’ve met so far have all been so unique. Sure, most wanted to kill me at one point, but I could say the same of a lot of my previous acquaintances… I know things are difficult for you. You feel awkward all the time, your interests are very different from most everyone else down here, and you have a very isolating job. So, I get why all this is… happening. I do. But… it’s really not necessary, Alphys. I can’t say it hasn’t been interesting, but you could have just as easily left it at upgrading my phone and giving me directions. You didn’t need to phone in danger so you could save my life, because I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing it for Frisk. I’m doing all this so Frisk can be safe. I refuse to risk their life when I can take the danger more easily. You don’t need to lie to be my friend. Just being there and supporting me is good enough. Trust me, there aren’t that many people who do that for me back home. _You are just fine as you are, Alphys._ I just… wanted to tell you that. You know, for whenever all this Mettaton _danger_ finally ends.” Alphys was silent so I went ahead and hung up.

ALPHYS UPDATED HER STATUS: I guess it is better to be honest... If episode 4 of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie taught me anything, it should be that… but I’m not Mew Mew… my secret isn’t about a stash of tuna under a mattress. Is it still the better option?

Up ahead was that Nice Cream Guy and the two guards. Seems as though they bought out the Nice Cream Guy. That’s nice. To the left was the ‘true love’ set. To the right was an elevator. Up ahead was a very fancy front to what appeared to be either a hotel or a restaurant. Considering what I’ve seen so far, probably both. There, off to the side, was Sans. He was just standing there with a smirk on his face, hands in his pockets, and his jacket zipped up to his chin. _So we meet again_. When I tried to walk past him he laughed and pulled at my shirt.

“hey! i heard you’re going to the core. how about grabbing some dinner with me first?” I was about to decline, because _I’m trying not to smack this bitch_ , when my stomach growled, “uh… what was that?” he seemed weirded out, his eyes glancing nervously around me.

“That was a yes, you fucking prick. Lead the way. Bitch” I said, trying not to blush too hard. Sans seemed a little unsettled but pushed it away with a chuckle.

“great, thanks for treating me.” _BITCH, WHO SAID I WAS PAYING FOR IT?!_ “over here. i know a shortcut.” I reluctantly followed him, glaring a hole in the back of his head. We went through the alley and suddenly we’re standing in front of a table.

“I seriously hate when you do that. You prick.” Sans laughed a little.

“well, here we are. so. your journey’s almost over, huh? you must really wanna go home.”

“Eh. Not really. But I have to try, for Frisk if nothing else.” Sans nodded.

“i know the feeling, buddy… but, uh, maybe sometimes it’s better to take what’s given to you. i’m sure frisk will understand if you just go back and tell them that it’s a no go… i mean, down here you’ve already got food, drink, friends… is what you have to do, really that important? you would never have to risk your neck to feed frisk and yourself ever again.”

“It’s the principle of the matter that counts, actually.” Sans looked off to the side before looking back at me.

“… ah, forget it. i’m rootin’ for ya, kid. hey, let me tell you a story. so i’m a sentry in snowdin forest, right? i sit out there and watch for humans. it’s kind of boring. fortunately, deep in the forest… there’s this HUGE locked door and it’s perfect for practicing knock knock jokes. so, one day, i’m knocking ‘em out, like usual. i knock on the door and say ‘knock knock.’ and suddenly, from the other side… i hear a woman’s voice. ‘who is there?’ so, naturally, I respond: ‘dishes.’ ‘dishes who?’ ‘dishes a very bad joke.’ then she just howls with laughter. like it’s the best joke she’s heard in a hundred years. so I keep ‘em coming, and she keeps laughing. she’s the best audience i’ve ever had. then, after a dozen of ‘em, SHE knocks and says… ‘Knock knock!’ i say ‘whos there?’ ‘old lady!’ ‘old lady who?’ ‘Oh! I did not know you could yodel!’ wow. needless to say, this woman was extremely good.” _Yeah, Goat Mom is the best mom_ , “we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually i had to leave. papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story. but she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. it’s a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. it rules… one day, though, i noticed she wasn’t laughing very much. i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. ‘if a human ever comes through this door… could you please, please promise something?’ ‘watch over them, and protect them, will you not?’” _aww, Goat Mom! I love you too!_ “now, i hate making promises. and this woman, i don’t even know her name. but… someone who sincerely likes bad jokes… has an integrity you can’t say ‘no’ to.” He did that weird winking thing and suddenly the room felt tense, “do you get what i’m saying? that promise i made to her… you know what would have happened if she hadn’t said anything?... buddy.” He suddenly closed both his eyes and opened them up again, pupils gone and SCARY ASS PITS OF DARKNESS GREETED ME. I FUCKING KNEW THIS PRICK HAD SOMETHING ABOUT HIM. I KNEW IT. _I SEE EVERYTHING._

“… You’d be dead where you stand.” I snorted with laughter and raised my eyebrow at him.

“… _Is that a challenge, bitch?_ You wanna go, son?! Put on the Temmie Armor and let’s _fucking go!_ ” I prepared to launch myself over the table but stopped when Sans laughed, the little pin pricks of light back in his eyes.

“yeah… i’m glad i made that promise, now. you’re way too much fun to mess with! hehe, i’m just joking with ya! besides, haven’t i done a great job protecting you? i mean, look at yourself. you died a single time.” I glared at him from across the table. _You fucking bitch…_ “hey, what’s that look supposed to mean?” _don’t quit your day jobs just yet, you prick_. “am i wrong?” _you know you fucking are, you little shit!_ “heh, well, that’s all. take care of yourself, kid. ‘cause someone really cares about you.” and he was off before I could even reply. _That son of a bitch! Get the fuck back here and let me fucking hug you!_

“WAIT A MINUTE! YOU DICK, WE DIDN’T EVEN EAT ANYTHING!?” I ignored the weird looks the other patrons gave me and left. Ah. So it is a combination of a restaurant and a hotel. The cashier… Burgerpants?... he… uh… he’s definitely smoking weed. Not to mention the cat dude has the weirdest fucking facial expressions. I paid for a room and went to take a nap. When I got in the room I wondered who the fuck the normal patrons are, because the fucking bed was HUGE. I opened my phone and called Goat Mom.

“Ah, my child! Are… are you feeling better?” I let out a sigh of relief.

“Haha, yeah, I am feeling a lot better. I was just about to go to sleep before continuing onward. I’m actually in a hotel right now. It’s really nice… kind of overpriced, but that’s a monopoly for you, I guess. Oh! And thanks, Mom. You know, for everything. Even your weird pun-ship with Sans.”

“…Sans?”

“You know, short… oh, right, you haven’t actually seen him in person. Uh, he’s the one who did all those knock knock jokes with you. That guy.”

“Oh! That is his name? I should surprise him the next time he comes over with a Sans-sational pun~!” I let out a choked laugh.

“Ha! Yeah, you get on that and tell me how it goes. Is Frisk already in bed or can I talk to them?” Goat Mom shuffled around and laughed.

“They are awake, my child. Frisk, Tumble is on the phone! …Careful, no need to _trip_.” I let out a snort and listened as the phone was handed to Frisk.

“Sup, klutz?”

“Nothing much, bean sprout. So… I had a calculator confess his love to me in drag today… that was interesting.” I hear laughter on the line.

“W-What?”

“Yeah, then he tried to kill me with a puzzle, then with fire, and finally my SOUL shot him with little yellow shit-bullets. Today’s been really weird for me. I also met the most devious Girl Scout ever. I didn’t have to… uh, fight her. Apparently having connections in the Ruins is worth something after all~!” I heard helpless laughter on the line for a while before Frisk calmed down.

“… Tumble, you know I love you, right? I know the promise I made you give was unfair… eventually you’ll have to break it.” I felt a cold chill down my spine.

“I fully intend to keep it.”

“…Tumble… If… when you have to break that promise, just don’t… kill anyone. Everything will be okay. I get it if you have to fight back, but just don’t kill anyone.”

“HEY! I ain’t a murderer, you little shit! I will MERCY those bitches till they don’t know what to do!”

“I just… Tumble, I… don’t be afraid to call for help, okay? You’ll be fine… everything will be fine… just remember that. And that I love you, no matter what.” I cooed a little over the phone.

“I love you too, baby… do you want to be sung to sleep again tonight?”

“… please?” I chuckled a little and thought. Hmm… something different. “C-Can you do ‘Battle Scars’? You know, Paradise Fears?” _That works_.

“Alright, are you all tucked in?”

“Uh-huh!”

“ _This is an anthem to the homesick_

_For the beaten_

_The lost, the broke, the defeated_

_A song for the heartsick_

_For the standby’s_

_Living life in the shadow of a goodbye_

_Do you remember when we learned how to fly?_

_We play make believe_

_We were young and had time on our side_

_Your stuck on the ground_

_Got lost, can’t be found_

_Just remember that you’re still alive_

_I’ll carry you home_

_No you’re not alone_

_Keep marching on_

_This is worth fighting for_

_You know we’ve all got battle scars_

_You’ve had enough_

_But just don’t give up_

_Stick to your guns_

_You are worth fighting for_

_You know we’ve all got battle scars_

_Keep marching on_

_This is a call to the soldiers_

_The fighters, the young, the innocent and righteous_

_We’ve got a little room to grow_

_Better days are near_

_Hope is so much stronger than fear_

_So if you jump kid don’t be scared to fall_

_Well, we’ll be kings and queens in this dream_

_All for one, one for all_

_You can light up the dark_

_There’s a fire in your heart_

_Burning brighter than ever before_

_I’ll carry you home_

_No you’re not alone_

_Keep marching on_

_This is worth fighting for_

_You know we’ve all got battle scars_

_Keep marching on_

_On and on_

_Like we’re living on a broken record_

_Hope is strong_

_But misery’s a little quicker_

_Sit and we wait and we drown there_

_Thinking why bother playing when it’s unfair?_

_They say life’s a waste_

_I say they lack belief_

_They tell me luck will travel?_

_I tell them that’s why I’ve got feet!_

_Left, right_

_Left, right_

_Moving along, to the pulse of a heartbeat_

_This could be the last chance you have to fly_

_Do you like the ground?_

_Want it to pass you by?_

_Then you had it all_

_When you were just a kid_

_Do you even remember who you were back then?_

_What do you want in life?_

_Would you be twice as strong?_

_What would you sacrifice?_

_What are you waiting on?_

_Don’t stop_

_March on_

_I’ll carry you home_

_No you’re not alone_

_Keep marching on_

_This is worth fighting for_

_You know we’ve all got battle scars_

_You’ve had enough_

_But just don’t give up_

_Stick to your guns_

_You are worth fighting for_

_You know we’ve all got battle scars_

_Keep marching on_

_Keep marching on…”_

The line was quiet so I hung up, trying not to feel nervous about Frisk. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

**_I was standing in a golden hallway, the fading light casting a holy glow upon the floor. Everything seemed so serene. Suddenly, I looked down, seeing my feet standing in a pool of blood. My eyes traveled to the source, just ahead of me. The room was suddenly filled with small, bleeding bodies. Every. Single. One was unmoving. THEY ALL LOOKED LIKE FRISK. Various bits of broken bone littered the area and just ahead, a familiar skeleton was standing there, cyan tears pouring down his face, eyes dark._ **

**_“this is why i don’t make promises… i’m so sorry, paps… old lady.. everyone… T U M B L E...” suddenly, the hall was on fire as the sound of dark and broken laughter rang in my ears. All the corpses opened their eyes, a vivid red where brown once was, and they all gave identical creepy grins at me._ **

**_“Y O U C A N ‘ T C H A N G E D E S T I N Y. I W I L L D E S T R O Y E V E R Y T H I N G.” the sound of bones shattering and a pained cry drew my eyes back to Sans. A broken corpse held up a knife, still embedded into Sans’ chest, red liquid gushing out. Sans had a peaceful expression on his face as he looked at something over my shoulder._ **

**_“whelp, i’m going to grillby’s… want anything, pap? tumble?” I looked behind me but only a dark shadowy figure with a pale face lingered. His voice was smooth but his words were clearly another language. I couldn’t really comprehend it, but with dream-like logic I understood._ **

**_“Can you change fate? Can Y O U S A V E T H E M? S A N S… P A P Y R U S… F R I S K… A S... L… C H A…. A…. Y O U R S E L F… CAN YOU?”_ **

I jerked up, sweat pouring off of me and tears streaming down my face. My entire body ached and demented laughter rang in my ears. _What the hell was that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, didn't originally plan on that nightmare bit, really! But then it sort of happened and FUCKING [REDACTED] FINALLY APPEARS! BITCH, WHERE YOU BEEN AT? Haha, well, enjoy that ;)


	18. Honesty is the Best Policy

Thankfully, a shower put everything in order again… physically at least, but I tried to forget the lingering images of golden halls and the scent of blood. Guess it’s time to move on now. I quietly closed the room door behind me and made my way to the core, trying not to be too shook up about what I had seen.

            Okay, these fucking assholes need help. There is no fucking need for DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING NOT TO WORK JUST BECAUSE YOU NEED TO HAVE FUCKING PUZZLES EVERYWHERE YOU GO. Seriously, I need to wonder around this hot ass building just to solve some fucking puzzles, why exactly? After a while, I am finally able to go on. Two weirdo monsters tried to block my way, but it’s hard to be intimidated by someone whose attacks are defeated by stares and one who literally falls asleep to a lullaby. Of course, it didn’t end there. The final evolutions of the ‘Froggit’, the floating eyeball, and the shy floating moth thing blocked me after that. They were defeated much in the same way they were before. I continue to walk through the twisty maze that is the fucking core when I suddenly get a phone call.

            “T-Tumble… it’s me… A-Alphys. I-I need to tell you something. You were right… I’ve been lying this whole time. I’ve been putting you in unnecessary danger just so I could go along on your adventure. I-I’m just s-such a f-f-failure, all the time and I… I understand if you never want to talk to me again…” I let out a sigh of relief, a burden I didn’t know I had lifting off my shoulders.

            “Alphys… it’s okay. I just wanted you to be truthful, that’s all. Now we can _really_ be friends. Now, before I move forward any farther, will I _happen to encounter Mettaton again?_ ” I heard an embarrassed squeak from the other line.

            “Ahaha… yeah, the room up ahead, actually. I-I don’t think I can convince Mettaton to not go along with the original plan, he’s been getting so many more viewers and he’s really excited and—“

            “Alright, Alphys. I’ve never been the kind of a person to leave something unfinished anyway. Mettaton’s really… special… isn’t he?” I heard a nervous chuckle.

            “Yeah, he was so cute before I made his body! All nervous and excited! Then he did his first show and… yeah. T-That happened.” I let out a bark of laughter.

            “Haha! I can imagine. Well, not a nervous Mettaton, but if he looked anything like Nabs, then heck yeah, he was probably adorable.”

            “You’ve really met Nabstablook, haven’t you?”

            “Yeah, he’s freaking adorable! But, unfortunately, we can’t chat all day about my favorite ghost. I’ve got a boss battle to get to. I assume you’re to be involved somehow?”

            “Y-Y-Yeah… as long as Mettaton hasn’t gotten bored with this, then I should come in and deactivate him before it gets too dangerous.” Well, as long as we only have to depend on the whims of a _drama queen_.

            “Well, here’s to hoping.” I hung up and entered the room. It was dark, but I could definitely see Mettaton standing in the center of the room.

            “OH YES. THERE YOU ARE, DARLING. IT’S TIME TO HAVE OUT LITTLE SHOWDOWN. IT’S TIME TO FINALLY STOP THE ‘MALFUNCTIONING’ ROBOT. NOT!!! MALFUNCTION? REPROGRAMMING? GET REAL—“

            “Yeah, I already know about the whole ‘plan’ to phone in danger by Alphys. She confessed just now. I assume you have a different idea?” Mettaton was silent for several moments.

            “Yes, actually. I’ve been watching you. You’re actually quite weak. You refuse to fight, and that will be your downfall. I plan on taking your SOUL and getting out of the underground. There I will become a STAR. I cannot let Asgore destroy a potential audience, what kind of an actor would I be if I did that? So, prepare yourself, human. For death.” And suddenly the doors slammed shut. Alphys pounded on the door.

            “H-Hey!! Wh—oh no! Mettaton changed the plan, didn’t he? TUMBLE! Listen, I don’t know if he’ll let you answer your phone, so I have to tell you this now! Your only chance to beat him is by pulling the switch on his back. At that point, you just exhaust him and attack his heart. His other form consumes too much energy to go on forever! I’m sorry, Tumble! Good luck!” _what did she mean, other form?_ But it was too late, the battle started. Lights danced around us.

            “SORRY, FOLKS! THE OLD PROGRAM’S BEEN CANCELLED!!! BUT WE’VE GOT A FINALE THAT WILL DRIVE YOU WILD!!!” the room suddenly shot up an impossible height. “REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! REAL BLOODSHED! ON OUR NEW SHOW: ‘ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!’” my violet heart popped out of my chest and DID THE CREEPY ASS THING WHERE IT TURNED YELLOW AND UPSIDE DOWN. FUCKING HELL, THAT NEEDS TO STOP. But there was no going back.

            “If you continue forward, Asgore will take your SOUL. You know that, don’t you? Then what will happen to the humans? Humanity will be destroyed! It’s better for everyone if you just let me take your SOUL.”

            “Hell no, tin can! Did you at least visit Nabs?”

            “… I may have snuck in a visit while you were checked in at MTT Hotel…”

            “Well, at least Nabs got to see you before I KICK YOUR ASS! BRING IT ON, HERBY!” and so we began fighting. After a few turns it hit me at how I could get the ass to turn around. “Hey, there’s a mirror if you want to make sure you at least look nice before I defeat you!” Mettaton actually turned around to look in the mirror and I waste no time flipping that damn switch.

            “Darling, you’re way too sure of yourself! Besides, this perfection can hardly ge—DID. YOU. JUST. FLIP. MY. SWITCH?” a bright blinding light lit up the room and momentarily blinded me. Within the light, it kind of looked like Mettaton was going through a magical girl/Transformers evolution. A pink heart burst out of his colored screen and was insterted into the newly developed belt. His torso extended and shoulders popped up, quickly followed by arms and a head. Legs shot down and _damn. Someone didn’t skip leg day_. His hair covered his right eye in a weird do, and his eye appeared to be lined in black with pink eye shadow. Then, I heard it. From the bowels of hell.

            _“O H Y E A H~”_ THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT DEEP ASS VOICE?! WHERE DID TIN CAN’S REAL VOICE GO? Mettaton X, as I was now calling him, did creepy ass pelvic movements and struck a few poses.

            “The hell, Alphys… what the hell?” Mettaton ignored me and preened.

            “Oh my~! If you flipped my switch, that can mean one thing.” _I have made horrible life decisions_ , “You’re desperate for the premiere of my new body. How rude… lucky for you, I’ve been aching to show this off for a long time.” _Please don’t tell me about your aches. I feel indecent just looking at you right now_ , “So… as thanks, I’ll give you a handsome reward. I’ll make your last living moments… ABSOLUTELY beautiful!” ACTUALLY, I THINK JUST DEATH WOULD BE NICE AT THIS POINT.

            “…I need an adult… wait. FUCK! I AM AN ADULT! I NEED A BETTER PREPARED ADULT!” I screeched in horror. Mettaton’s eye flashed pink.

            “D A R L I N G… WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FOUL LANGUAGE?!” I could almost hear the angry jammed printer noises. I won’t say the next few minutes of battle were nice. Mattaton was _so fucking pissed_. On the plus side, the new graph with viewers was going up from the bloodshed.

            “Haha… well, Mettaton, you’re good, but I won’t get hit as near as much as you hope I will!” Every single successful boast, snack break to recover health, and accidental pose made the view count rise higher. I had a feeling that I needed to get the view count as high as possible. I ended up knocking off his arms before he asked for an essay. “Dem legs.” There, that should suffice. I didn’t want to risk cussing like a sailor again. It did the trick, thankfully. A ridiculous amount of viewers came with that. Then his legs went. _What a shame._

About thirty minutes later, I got what I wanted. The views had hit over 10,000, _were there even that many monsters in the underground?_ , and Mettaton took a call.

            “Oh…. hi Metta. I really liked watching your show. My life is pretty boring, but seeing you on the screen… brought excitement to my life… I guess this is the final episode? I can’t quite tell, but I just wanted to say that I’ll miss you, Metta. Well… I’ve talked long enough, I’d hate to be a bother…” Nabs voice said over the line. Mettaton scrambled at his cousin’s voice, well, as much as he could.

            “NO WAIT! Oh… I guess he hung up… uh, I’ll take another caller.” And the calls flooded in. Support, massive support, for Mettaton and well wishes. But mostly wishes that he wouldn’t leave. It was rather touching, to be honest. Mettaton sighed dramatically, “I suppose it was useless, after all. I can’t leave behind my loyal fans~! The humans have plenty of super stars, but monsters? They only have me. Besides, this form uses a lot more energy than I can… handle…” and bam, Mettaton X is out of commission. The battle ended and Alphys burst in.

            “METTATON!” I looked at Alphys as she fretted over Mettaton.

            “Uh… he’ll be alright, won’t he?” Alphys flushed, her eyes watering a little.

            “Y-Yeah… I can just… b-build another robot, even if I can’t… fix him.”

            “Hey… it’ll be okay. It’s not that far from the Barrier, right? I’m going to go check and see if I can cross it before coming back. You just… hang tight, okay?” I started towards the door when Alphys caught my shirt sleeve. She hastily dropped it.

            “I-I have one more thing to tell you… the Barrier… a human SOUL can only cross it with a monster SOUL. Y-You have to kill a monster before you can go through…” I felt my blood run cold.

            “What? A-Are you sure?”

            “Y-Y-Yes… I’ve r-run experiments to see if we could break it without human SOULs and… uh—yeah, you need to kill a monster to get through. I’m not sure what you plan on doing with that information, but you should probably confront Asgore anyway if you plan on staying. He can declare you and Frisk free to live here without worry. He’s a bit of a softy, so if you tell him you plan on staying, he’ll probably let you… Tumble… About… Good luck.” Alphys finished awkwardly. I smiled and gave Alphys a hug, laughing a little at her embarrassed squeak. The smell of oil, metal, and… sushi(?) assaulting my nose.

            “Thank you, Alphys. I’ll be back, okay? I’m not a murderer… Frisk and I can easily live down here happily with so many good friends like you.” Alphys blushed a vivid red and laughed. I waved good bye and moved forward. I entered the elevator and was deposited in what appeared to be a suddenly gray-scale world. The hell? A sparkly save point met my eye farther down.

The newfound honesty of Alphys fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

            Yeah… it does. It really does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, fair warning, graphic depictions of violence tag will be added if it isn't already because REAL SOON we have Omega Flowey... uh, you guys may hate me for how this all ends... Omega Flowey is a dick, and Frisk really is the best person qualified to take him on... you know, DETERMINATION and all. Without that...
> 
> Anyway, I think I've done enough evil foreshadowing here ;)  
> Enjoy
> 
> B E C A U S E S O O N Y O U W O N 'T B E H A V I N G A G O O D T I M E.... neither will Tumble.


	19. I Can PERSEVERE. I am DETERMINED.

I walked forward and found myself in front of a _very familiar house_ … Did Sans fucking teleport me and make me go fucking color blind? _Is this Toriel’s house?_ What the hell is going on? The save point in front of the house glittered softly.

Sometimes life gives us familiar places in the place of new ones, and this fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

            I entered the house and was struck with how achingly familiar this place was… I felt… oddly, homesick just looking at it. The only spots of color were the random vases of yellow flowers. Along my exploration of the house I was entered into random battles with monsters whose only purpose seemed to be delivering exposition about ‘The First Fallen Human”. Apparently, killing every human for their SOUL was only a policy adopted after the tragedy that cost the royal family both their children. The once adopted a human child and everyone was hopeful, for some reason. They were probably a really cute family. I grabbed the key in the kitchen and the hallway, looking into the familiar room that Frisk and I stayed in at Toriel’s house. There was a heart locket and a worn dagger. I put the heart locket on, feeling as though it was important for something, and also took the worn dagger. I had made a point of not carrying a weapon, but with Frisk’s speech earlier, I felt nervous. With any luck, I won’t actually need it, but I could always use it to bluff my way out of a conflict. I dashed out to save again.

Though the path I walk is not entirely my own, at least I know I’m not alone, and _this_ fills me with a sense of PERSERVERENCE.

            I walked down the hallway in the basement. ABC’s family drama continued, because, naturally, it couldn’t end on a happy note. The human child got sick and died. When their brother, Asriel, took them up to the surface with the power of the human SOUL, the humans attacked. Asriel refused to right back and returned to the underground incredibly wounded and died… his body turning to dust and causing flowers to bloom. Golden flowers. Damn. People are dicks. The monsters then lost hope and the queen ran away as the king gave orders for every human since to have their SOUL taken... _hey…_ The monsters proceeded to ominously declare that soon I would free them all with my soul.

            “Okay, you fuckers need to stop this shit. I appreciate the history lesson, but I didn’t come here to take a SOUL or give a SOUL. I just came to talk. Jesus.” I muttered as they looked away and disappeared. I saw an elevator back to my left and a doorway to my right. I slipped into the doorway and my heart stopped.

            Golden light illuminated a beautiful hallway. A save point sparkled from the corner of my eye.

_It’s going to be okay, I can PERSERVERE._

            My body began to shake as images flashed before my eyes. The scent of blood— _oh god so much blood_ —filled my nose briefly before flitting away. My quiet footsteps echoed in the long hallway as my breathing sped up. I shut my eyes and walked faster, needing desperately to get out. _Save them. Save them. Save who?_ I nearly plowed down a familiar bony body in my rush. The tolling of a bell somewhere rang in my ears.

            “woah, kid. slow down, i just wanted to talk to you for a moment—tumble, are you okay?” my eyes popped open to see Sans in front of me, his eye sockets narrowed in concern and the pin pricks of light a little smaller than I was used to. **_“I’m so sorry…”_** my breathing hitched and the pseudo-scent of blood seemed to thicken.

            “Yeah. Yeah. I-I’m fine, just…. Uh… just want to get out of here. Gotta go!” I tried to slip past Sans but his grip on my shoulders were firm.

            “hey, now! tumble, you’re shaking… you’re crying, when I said not to _fall_ for me, I didn’t mean become _tear-_ ified. talk to me.” I looked away as I tried to scrub the fresh tears away— _when did I start crying? **Can I save them?** Save who?_—but my glasses were in the way. I pulled them off and desperately scrubbed away at my eyes, my whole body shaking.

            “I’m fine. I’m fine. _I’m fine. I’m going to be fine._ ” Sans seemed to make a strange high-pitched rattle in the back of his throat—a bony sort of whimper—as his hands gripped mine and pulled them away from my face. Cool, boney hands cupped my face, thumbs moving gently to wipe away my tears even as more replaced them. My hands shot up and gripped his wrists, my fingers brushing where a pulse normally would be. _Sans is alive. Frisk is with Toriel. Everything is fine. **Everything will be okay**_.

            “You will be okay, but you have to talk, Tumble.” I let out a sob and shook my head.

            “I-It was just a nightmare. _It was just a nightmare_. _It’s not real. It’s not real._ ”

            “what’s not real? come on, Tumble, talk to me.” Sans voice washed over me. _Sans was alive. Frisk was safe_

            “I-I was i-in this ha-ll. T-There was blood! _So much blood_! Frisk was h-here too! So many of them… a-a-all dead. Y-You were h-here too! Y-You were crying. A-Apologizing to _everyone. Even me_. T-Then there was fire a-and Frisk… the d-de… they all had r-red eyes and were laughing. T-This voice said that I couldn’t change anything! That everything would be d-destroyed. Then you were s-stabbed—by Frisk… or a Frisk—and you were _covered in red_ and you asked if P-Pap wanted anything from G-Grillby’s, and me too. Then this dark figure with a pale face was behind me. He… he asked if I could be able to save them. It was just a nightmare! _T-This is so stupid, it was just a nightmare!_ ” I gripped Sans tighter in a hug I don’t recall starting. Sans seemed frozen before wrapping his arms around me tightly.

            “oh, Tumble…” Sans seemed conflicted for a moment, “save who?”

            “ _Everyone._ ” Sans eyes flashed for a moment as he struggled with himself.

“i… i’m not sure what to say. tumble…” he set his shoulders back and finally decided, “there’s something you need to know. remember how, when you die in battle, you end up back at a certain point? that’s time travel, or rather, RELOAD, an ability given to some humans when they have enough DETERMINATION. with enough DETERMINATION, a human can purposefully SAVE, LOAD, RELOAD, and… RESET. this causes different timelines to be created. basically, a very long… time ago, something happened to create a time loop, which means that a set amount of time or events will perpetually repeat until the loop is resolved. the specifics of the time loop seem to be when frisk falls down here and sometime after they get out, even if they don’t make a RESET themselves. i’ve seen a lot of different frisks come down here. older. younger. mute frisks and frisks who never shut up… but, sometimes, frisk comes down… different. rather than a kind frisk, they’re… something else. not frisk, per-say, but… i really don’t know.” Sans seemed to tense up and marginally relax, gathering himself.

“the thing that looks like frisk kills everyone down here, even paps, and i always meet them in this place for judgment. in some timelines, i get to have frisk go on, not a single drop of LOVE in them. other times they have some, for one reason or another, but when the… D E M O N comes along. when that happens… i fight them, always. i kill the imposter until they learn enough about me to end it… but never, have i ever seen frisk come down here with someone else. maybe, we’ve been filtering through all the possible frisks, and this timeline happens to be one of the ones where you exist, who knows? but no one remembers the different time lines except for frisk… and me.” Sans seemed so broken, bones in his body seeming to grind and pop as he took in a deep, fortifying breath.

“but i’m a monster, i don’t have the DETERMINATION to use those special abilities. i just get to… remember. i gave up really changing anything a long time ago… a very long, or high number, of timelines ago. but then you showed up, and i thought, maybe it’s finally ending? ya know? i know you don’t want to hear that what you saw was, to a degree, very real, but if this repeats, i want to have at least tried to tell you the truth once. just in case you don’t remember. i stopped caring… i swear… but i guess it must be a family thing to give these old bones emotion again.” I felt a tingly wetness seep into my shirt. _Sans was crying._ The very thought seemed wrong somehow. Like, excuse you, bastard, you’re supposed to be a pun-ster! Incapable of a serious moment!

“Bastard, look at you, making me cry. Making yourself cry. It’s just a big weeping _festival of fucking tears over here_. Should I get a boat?” his shoulders seemed to bounce with a hiccupping sob.

“ _willow_ -nly if you think it’s n-needed.”

“Prick.”

“cactus.”

“Same thing.” He laughed into my shoulder and we both couldn’t seem to stop laughing, “Hey, your tears kinda glow, does that mean I have to worry about glow-y stains on this shirt? Hey, don’t laugh! It’s a serious question! I don’t want to look like I bathed in a rave kiddy pool!”

“no need to make any _bones_ about it, you need the extra color anyway.” Light giggling finally faded away as I put on my glasses again, “you know, without glasses your eyes look huge. and also like frisk’s when they’re really surprised.”

“What, got something to say about it?” Sans pulled back and made an innocent expression, the lights in his eye sockets going to about the size of a dime.

“who, me? naw, i didn’t _see_ a thing.”

“Was that a glasses pun?”

“good to know you can _see_ the irony without your glasses.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“ _Put on the Temmie Armor so I can kick your ass, Sans. I dare you._ ” he laughed and wiped away his tears.

“alrighty then, i guess i should probably ask what you plan on doing now.”

“I’m going to put aside the whole ‘time travel’ thing until after I talk to Asgore. I plan on staying here with Frisk since I apparently need to also have a monster SOUL to get through the Barrier. Figured I should probably let him know so I don’t have to worry about it coming back to bite me in the ass later.” I let out a sigh, “I guess I better re-SAVE, if that’s what those fucking sparkles are for, and head out. With any luck, I shouldn’t take too long. I just gotta remember ‘Invictus’, ya know?” Sans looked at me in confusion.

“‘Invictus’?” I waved him off and headed back to the save point.

“It’s a poem. I’ll tell you all about it later. Hopefully, we won’t end up crying again…” I gave Sans a playful glare and SAVED.

With the support of my family, I can PERSEVERE.

I looked over at Sans in disbelief and was met only with the echoing sound of a light chuckle… yeah. _I can PERSEVERE_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so I meant to have a short, tense conversation with Sans where Tumble tries to ignore the familiarity with the nightmare. But then this happened... and yeah. Bro!Sans for the win, yeah? heheh, prepare yourselves for more angst! Omega Flowey is coming up, but first, Asgore! E N J O Y.


	20. Lessons Learned

I walked past where I last saw Sans and let out a huff.

“Bastard refuses to actually say goodbye… probably for the best, it would seem a little ominous coming from him. The prick.” Up ahead was a continuation of the ‘grayscale of depression’ and an open doorway. Down the hallway, past the doorway, was a set of stairs that led to the basement. In the basement was a creepy as hell line of coffins with names engraved on each one and a heart filled with a single color. The closest one was filled with red and had the name ‘Chara’ on it. I tried to ignore the strange feeling of dread upon reading that name. I back tracked and spotted the save point outside the open doorway.

I will PERSEVERE.

I patted the pocket with the worn dagger, hoping that this wouldn’t have to end with violence. I walked through the doorway to find a throne room with flowers and a large figure crouched in the center. Birds chirped happily and dapples of sunlight danced across the room. The figure had a purple cloak and golden shoulder plates. Golden hair fell down to mingle with the gold on his shoulders and a pair of white horns were visible above his head.

“Uh… your majesty? Sir?” Asgore’s head shot up and I heard a strong and kind voice drift over to me.

“Just a moment, I’ll be with you shortly… Howdy! Oh… It’s you… normally, I’d ask if you’d like a cup of tea, but considering the situation…” he turned around and I was struck with how much Asgore looked like Toriel… but with a beard.

            “Actually, I didn’t come here to fight—“ but he was already headed past the purple throne and into a room off the side.

“Come when you are properly prepared.” Okay, that’s nice and all, but if you’d stop for five _fucking seconds_ , this would be completely unnecessary. I shook my head and headed after him. The room he went into was one of the most trippy rooms I had ever seen. It was like when you look at a spot of light and close your eyes, and after a while the after-image goes away but this weird wave of alternating light and darkness goes into the center of the after image. Only, I didn’t stare at anything to see this shit. I just followed the ridiculously bearded man.

“Seriously, Mr. Dremmurr, I just want to talk to you about something!” he looked back at me and sighed.

“I’m sure you already know about the Barrier and the requirements to get through, then? I ask you to consider resolving this peacefully. I can only make this as swift as you allow it to be.” I blinked at him in concern. He was really ready to go at it, wasn’t he?

“Okay—“

“Then… we may begin, if you are so sure.” And I watched as glass vials came from the floor, seven in all, but the closest to my left was empty. The battle began in earnest. I was ready to make a move, to try and talk, when Asgore’s shadowed figure suddenly WHIPPED A FUCKING TRIDENT THE LIKES OF WHICH I HAVE NEVER SEEN AND OBLITERATED THE ‘MERCY’ OPTION. HOLY FUCK. YOU CAN DO THAT?!

“Woah! Dude, I seriously don’t want to fight you!” Asgore seemed to flinch but prepared to attack anyway. I dodged his magic attacks and tried not to think of the knife in my pocket. Asgore remained silent. “Please, don’t make me fight you just so you can listen to me!” Asgore’s trident seemed to waver, “It’s not what you think, please!” but he didn’t seem to be listening anymore. I spent the next few turns trying to talk to Asgore but his attacks only got more furious. I had no option. _“I get it if you have to fight back, just don’t kill anyone.”_ Damnit, this time travel thing is real isn’t it? I pushed away the growing anxiety and gripped the dull knife. “I’M SORRY, BUT YOU REALLY NEED TO LISTEN TO ME, DAMMIT!” he swung the trident at me and I leapt to the side, using the leftover force to launch myself at Asgore. The knife may have been dulled with time but the cut I made to his face suggested that the knife was far from done with its purpose. Asgore flinched but kept going. From there it was a battle of speed and trying to inflict however little damage I could. Every time I almost got hit, or my vision began to focus too much, I tried to take a step back. To remember that I wasn’t in this to hurt him… or kill him.

Eventually it got to the point to where Asgore was on his last leg. I was down to a quarter of my health. Finally, we were at a standstill.

“…You have won. Take the final blow and freedom will be yours…”

FIGHT or MERCY

I frowned and punched the MERCY button, despite the fact that it looked like it was barely intact.

“How many times do I have to tell you people? I. AM. NOT. A MURDERER. I came here to tell you… to ask you to let Frisk and I live down here in peace. Frisk is happy here, and I… I can easily consider this place a home. We’ll get to stay with Toriel in the Ruins and visit the skeleton brothers whenever we want. Burning—I mean cooking—lessons with Undyne and anime with Alphys. It sounds like the kind of life I would be happy to live with.” Asgore smiled, tears in his eyes.

“You’d really give up life on the surface for your friends? For… Frisk?”

“I’d do anything for Frisk. Getting to stay with the best people I’ve ever met is just a bonus… sir.” Asgore laughed, a great rumbling sound.

“I apologize for the stubbornness of an old man… and did you say Toriel—“ a familiar white pellet shot Asgore, his face frozen in surprise.

“I told you, it was kill or B E K I L L E D.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAANNNNDDD SOON IT'S OMEGA FLOWEY BITCH! Expect that tomorrow and then I AM DONE! EVERYONE WILL HATE ME SO MUCH... well, today I guess. Phew, you guys have been SUPER supportive and I am so proud to have gotten so far in under TWO WEEKS. DAMN. That is something for me, let me tell you what! Hah, anyway, E N J O Y ;)
> 
> W H I L E Y O U S T I L L C A N
> 
> Also, it's so reassuring that you guys love Tumble but aren't actually... well, attatched to them, ya know? It makes this next bit SOOO much easier. Tumble's gonna need Invictus, reeaaallll ssoooonnnn.


	21. Rest in Pieces

There the smiling bastard was. Asgore dissolved into dust and his SOUL, an upside down heart colored like snow, was then shot with another pellet, the SOUL shattering into pieces.

            “You IDIOT. You haven’t learned a thing! In this world…” the six human SOULs danced around Flowey as his face morphed into a nightmare, “It’s KILL or BE killed.” Flowey’s creepy laughter sent me into darkness.

            I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark world. It looked an awful lot like battles, but the solid ground beneath my feet suggested otherwise. My violet SOUL was pulsing softly in front of me. The sound of an old television turning on filled the silence behind me. I slowly turned around to see an old TV set with static on the screen. A sense of foreboding filled me with DREAD. The ground underneath me seemed to buckle as _something_ erupted out from under the TV. It was a mass of pink flesh and the smell of _heat_ and _chlorophyll_ nearly caused me to throw up. The sound of static stopped to _wonderfully allow me only the sound of wet flesh expanding. Lovely._ The mass grew with the TV remaining on top and unnervingly silent as a large set of jaws spawned horizontally to the ground with a smaller mouth in the center.

Tubing shot out along with two sets of very human looking eyes as the ground erupted. Two sets of vine like appendages came out from the ground and held up the giant mass. The sound of wire cabling rang in the silence as a dark mass shot upwards from Omega Flowey’s back. The TV suddenly had a smiley face on it which then became incredibly disturbing when a pair of red eyes bulged out of the previously benevolent ‘eyes’. The smile dropped into a disturbing parody of an open mouthed smile as a laugh echoed around me. It was chilling and tin like and seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. I gripped my knife, suddenly wishing that I had something else, like a chainsaw or holy water, and the thought occurred to me. _Is this what Frisk meant?_

Wires shot out at me, piercing my body before I could even register the need to move. The laughter grew louder as blood filled my lungs and mouth, pain shooting through every part of my being. The laughter rang in the silence as the cabling began to separate while still in me. The last sound I heard was laughter and shattering. The shattering of bones and a SOUL.

\--This is what happens when you bring toys to the party, Frisk. T H E Y G E T B R O K E N.—

Omega Flowey looked down at the bloody mess and sighed.

“It really is interesting how different things are with just _one other person_. But while we’re alone, I should probably address the invisible elephant in the room. That’s right. **_You_**. You probably think that there will be some sort of happy ending, well **you’re wrong**. This will be my world and everyone in it will by my toys for the rest of eternity! I know you **_think_** that I am somehow not the ultimate authority here, but with the power I gain from **_eight souls_** will easily allow me the ability to change this… **_story_** to my liking. So, enjoy this feeble hope while you still can… **_readers_**.”

Laughter echoed in the silence.

\--The only ultimate authority of a story is the AUTHOR, bitch. Try again.—

Sans shivered as the timeline went back a bit.

“tumble… i hope you’re alright… PERSEVERE, tumble. if anyone can, it’s you…. i really hope you knew what you were doing, frisk. for all our sakes.” Sans thought back to his conversation with Tumble… about the dark figure with a pale face. “Was that really the old man…?” but what would Gaster be doing in Tumble’s nightmare? How did they even see the Genocide timelines…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now I probably should have pushed this chapter with the Asgore battle to make a nice four page chapter, but it didn't feel right. WAIT. JUST WAIT. I really need to get my required reading done before I go forward. Also, Mettaton and Flowey transformation is inspired by NCHProductions videos for Undertale on Youtube if you wanna check that out.
> 
> Flowey:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG-RWA1kbk0
> 
> Mettaton:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRPkoCg_84w
> 
> hopefully the links work in some form.
> 
> Enjoy.


	22. Piecing Things Back Together

“Hehehe… that’s just a taste of what’s to come next, Tumble. Usually, I end up playing with Frisk, but I guess shaking things up a bit wouldn’t be A BAD THING…” I opened my eyes to see the fucking hell-spawn of Omega Flowey before me. The air reeked of chlorophyll and a sickening heat rolled off of him in waves. “You can’t escape me. You can’t SAVE, or RELOAD, or even QUIT. I control everything here, thanks to your SOUL…” cables almost lazily shot towards me, the speed still almost too much for me to dodge. My shirt ended up ripped as I darted to the side, “Haven’t you ever wondered what those pretty. Little. Colors. Mean? Frisk has a red SOUL. Red means DETERMINATION. It’s what allowed them to control the world like they did. When you showed up, they gave that power to you… now, I want it. You can’t possibly use it to its true extent like you are… purple for PERSEVERENCE, I’m afraid. So, I’ll cut you a deal. Give ME the power, and I’ll let you go. I’ll let you live in a timeline with Frisk where the both of you live freely, unaware of anything that happened Underground. All the other timelines are MINE… so, what do you say, Tumble? Help a pal out?” I sneered at him.

“Hell no! Go burn in hell, you fucking weed!” His eyes narrowed down at me and he laughed.

“ ** _I was hoping you’d say that_**.” And cables whipped around, one catching on my head, snapping it clean off.

[LOAD]

The vines and cables were already moving, I didn’t have time to reorient myself. I dodged and weaved around, each near miss sending burning pain through my body. I sliced through several parts of Omega Flowey, but to no avail. I don’t think this is a fight I can win. The world shifted focus, my mind sharpening as instincts took over. Laughter continued to ring through the air, I tried to pull out of my ‘zone’ out of reflex, the distraction costing me those precious few seconds needed to flip over an incoming vine. As I literally tumbled, a razor sharp cable sliced open my neck. Luckily, it was over before I could register the blood pouring out of my mouth.

[LOAD]

The world was a blur of cables, vines, and laughter and blood. The knife found purchase more than once, but never enough to make a difference.

[LOAD]

I managed to crack the TV screen where Omega Flowey’s face was. But in retaliation, vines wrapped around my body and squeezed until everything inside me popped and I was nothing but a bag of blood and broken bits.

[LOAD]

I wasn’t entirely sure if I could be considered anything other than rabid at this point. Any words I could have said were now lost in a snarling growl of aggression. A vine nearly broke my hand tearing the knife out of my grip, but it didn’t matter at that point. I was almost a wild animal, my nails and teeth did almost as much damage as my knife did before. Like a real rabid animal, I was put down with a vine through my forehead.

[LOAD]

My knife wasn’t very sharp.

[LOAD]

My opponent was more than I could handle.

[LOAD]

The words “ _Invictus_ ” resounded within me, but the meaning was lost in a flurry of cables drenched in blood.

[LOAD]

Physically, I was fine. Mentally, phantom pains pulsed throughout me where I was previously killed before. Omega Flowey wasn’t fucking around. This was taking longer than he expected. I could do this… I could PErs… what was the word again? Violet bled out into a dusky grey as my world faded to black once more.

[…LOAD]

Omega Flowey frowned at me as his vines tightened.

“What are you waiting for? Why won’t you give up? You’re not DETERMINED…” his face twisted into a grin as he laughed again, “Are you, perhaps, waiting for someone to come help you? Hehe-hahaha! Well, don’t let me stop you! Go on! CALL OUT! No one’s here, just me… and you.” he waited expectantly. I don’t know why I did it.

“HELP ME!” _You called out for help_. “I… I can’t do this on my own…” Omega Flowey laughed harder before bringing me closer to his ‘face’ and cooing.

“ ** _But nobody came…_** ” but someone did. The screen in front of me flashed. “Warning:” an orange heart filled the screen. The world dissolved and filled with boxing gloves spinning around. I used my newfound freedom to dodge and weave before spotting it. An [ACT] button. I jumped up and pressed it, watching as it moved away, pulsating light filled the room. The boxing gloves turned into thumbs-up signs and floated leisurely towards me. I could feel a warmth within me and I looked down at the heart—why was there a heart? Why was it so faded?—in front of me, the washed out color glittering orange. I felt… filled with COURAGE. Like, I was acutely aware of how afraid I was, but also very much aware that I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. It was so much like De… but the thought was lost. Images of a laughing Papyrus filled my head. _When did I forget him?_ Tears began to fall from my eyes as I found myself back in front of Omega Flowey. It wasn’t over yet— _Five more to go_ —where did that thought come from?

“Eat shit, Flowey! No wait, don’t. You’re fat enough as it is.” I called out, trying to make Omega Flowey loose his cool. It worked. Bombs began dropping down on me as the screen flashed once more. This time, the heart was…cyan blue. _It was_ bone- _d to happen again… why was a pun my first thought?_

Large knife silhouettes began spinning around, like how boxing gloves once did before, and I scrambled to avoid them. One clipped my arm slightly but I pressed on. Then I spotted it, the [ACT] button. I jumped over a knife and pressed it hard. I only partially watched as I dodged the remaining knives. Suddenly, they turned into green Band-Aids, and drifted around. My washed out heart—why did it feel like it was supposed to be so much more?—glittered a cyan blue. I suddenly remembered Sans and his puns and I was filled with PATIENCE. I was going to get out of here, but there was no need to rush through and mess up. I couldn’t afford it.

This time, I went for a less suicidal route. I ducked and weaved through long strings of vines and cables, hopping out of the way of bullets. I could wait. _Omega Flowey can only go on for so long, and we have nothing but time here_. The screens flashed yet again. _Four, now three, more to go_. This time the heart was green. Large skillets flipped balls of fire upon me. I ducked back and forth until the [ACT] button fell from above and watched as the fires turned into green eggs. My mind flipped to an image of a large goat-like lady. Goat Mom. Her kindness—oh, I was filled with KINDNESS—for taking in Fr… who did I leave behind? But it was too late, the thought was gone from my mind as I was back with Omega Flowey once more. _What a poor, wretched creature_.

It was a short while later when I saw the flashing dark blue heart. I found myself dodging very large ballet slippers, almost getting crushed when I tried to recall why they seemed familiar. When the [ACT] button came I didn’t hesitate to press it. Green music notes gently bobbed up and down around me. I suddenly remembered ballet lessons with Fr… and Undyne. My slightly less faded heart was now glittering with the same tone of blue as Undyne’s skin. Undyne, who was De… who was so polite, even when she had a right not to be. The memory of her reminded me of INTEGRITY. A whispered promise not to kill echoed in my mind. I would fulfill this promise, but who did I make it to? _Two left…_

Omega Flowey was pissed, but I refused to relent. I could do this, even if the nagging thought at the back of my head begged the question of who else I was forgetting. I put aside this vague worry as the screen flashed with a yellow heart. A large gun shot out bullets with an eerie accuracy, but I still managed to get the [ACT] button. The bullets turned into green clovers as I remembered why yellow was important. Alphys and Mettaton, my heart—but that wasn’t the right word, was it?—turned yellow—what was it before?—and put an end to the chaos created by Alphys’ lies and Mettaton’s drama. I was filled with JUSTICE as my much brighter heart was liberally sprinkled with yellow. _Only one left… but something is missing… something is missing in **me.**_

Compared to before, Omega Flowey was now incredibly pissed and I almost didn’t have time to stop once his siege started. It was a relief when a purple—but isn’t it more _violet? Why does it feel so close… and personal with that name?_ —heart came on the screen. This time, words flew out of notebooks. Negative words such as FEAR, IMPRISONMENT, MURDER, and COWARD. I was deeply unnerved at how dark the words seemed and how they seemed to consume the notebooks they came out of. The [ACT] button was almost missed thanks to a tight squeeze between FEAR and MURDER, but I managed. Suddenly, I remembered what I had forgotten. _Everything. Everyone_. Frisk. Frisk had tried to warn me, they were waiting on me. My heart pulsed its true color— _violet, finally_ —and I was filled with PERSEVERENCE. It may not have been DETERMINATION, but it was something better. It was ME and everything I AM. I was once more in front of Omega Flowey, his vines agitated.

“Did you think I could be defeated so easily? YOU AREN’T EVEN ‘DETERMINED’! THERE’S NO WAY YOU COULD POSSIBLY BEAT ME! GIVE ME THE POWER I WANT—WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?! You’re supposed to obey me!” the SOULs—of course it wasn’t a heart, what was I thinking?—pulsed with light and struck Omega Flowey.

Omega Flowey’s defense is now 0.

Oh yeah, I can do this. _Time to do some weeding._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I played a bit fast and loose with the color/character association thing because until the 'ALL CAPS' moment, Tumble doesn't know what the colors mean. Luckily, the Undertale cast comes in a variety of colors so if they aren't straight up a representation of something (I like Toriel being kindness even though Undyne makes your SOUL green) I can just go by literal color palate. Also, my required reading is due every Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I can chill on weekends. I'd also like to confess that I purposefully mislead you guys. I wanted to see if I could fool you into thinking that I was killing off Tumble, and I guess it worked, a little. Trust me, I'm not done yet. Expect Omega Flowey bashing and poetic recitation in the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy.


	23. Weeding: the Next Step to Chemical Warfare

I let out a laugh and set to work. Any part of Omega Flowey in my reach was fair game. Every vine, cable, and fleshy bit that came near me was decimated as opposed to previously where I would barely scratch it.

“Hey, Omega Flowey, sucks having zero defense, doesn’t it? This kind of reminds me of a poem, actually. Wanna hear it?” Omega Flowey gave an indignant screech as I sliced clean through another vine. “That’s okay, I didn’t expect you to be a fan of poetry anyway.

_‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley._

_Out of the night that covers me,_

_Black as the pit from pole to pole,_

_I thank whatever gods that may be,_

_For my unconquerable SOUL._ ”

A vine as thick as my waist snapped past me and I jumped on it, running low and fast towards Omega Flowey’s face.

_“In the fell clutch of circumstance,_

_I have not winced nor cried aloud._

_Under the bludgeoning of chance,_

_My head is bloodied but unbowed.”_

His beady red eyes widened as he tried to whip the vine and send me flying, only for me to take a flying leap upwards and to dig my knife into the fleshy mass under his face.

_“Beyond this place of wrath and tears,_

_Looms but the horror of the shade,_

_And yet the menace of the years, finds,_

_And shall find, me unafraid.”_

I hauled myself up and smiled wide as he let out an angry screech, silenced only when I drove my fist through the screen. The air filled with static laced screams and everything went dark. I whispered the last stanza to myself as something began to form in front of me.

_“It matters not how strait the gate,_

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate._

_I am the captain of my SOUL.”_

A very tattered Flowey lay before me, his yellow petals now barely hanging on and clearly on his last leg.

“…well, go on ahead then. Finish it.” he refused to look me in the eye as two options lay before me.

[FIGHT] or [MERCY]

The look on his face when I pressed [MERCY] was almost worth the emotional turmoil of the battle. _Almost_.

“W-What are you doing?! Don’t you realize what you’re doing will only let me murder everyone you love?!” I let out a snort.

“I. Am. Not. A. Murderer. But… if you feel the murderous impulse rise again, I could always just kick your ass, ya damn weed.” I was almost on my last leg too, my right fist bloodied and possibly broken. I pressed [MERCY] again.

“You two really are siblings, aren’t you?! THIS ALL WOULD BE OVER IF YOU WOULD JUST KILL ME ALREADY.” I pressed [MERCY] again as Flowey began to cry, “I don’t understand… why?”

“Because I made a promise. Because, when I look at you, all I feel is pity. Frisk wouldn’t want you dead… don’t make me regret giving you MERCY.” I glared at the flower as everything faded to black again.

I wasn’t entirely sure where I was anymore. I seemed to be floating in nothingness when I felt my phone vibrate. I actually forgot I had it. I flipped it open to find a voice mail. I pressed a few buttons and a familiar voice filled the empty space around me.

“hey, kid. i guess wherever you are now doesn’t have service. whatever happened when you went in doesn’t matter. asgore is gone, so are the human souls, and the queen came out of the ruins with frisk. she’s been running things since. i’ve been through this enough times to know that this isn’t the end, yet. just… come back. frisk is worried about you, but seems adamant that you’ll return. they also insist that i tell you that alphys hasn’t left the lab in a long time now, she hasn’t even been taking phone calls... anyway, i asked frisk about ‘invictus’, by the way. quite the poem. very DETERMINED for someone with a violet SOUL. i guess frisk had to of gotten it from somewhere… anyway, you’re probably almost out of room in your phone, so i guess i’ll just wrap this up real quick. Come back home, Tumble, cause you got a lot of people that care about you.” oh, great, now I want to cry again. Thanks Sans, you asshole.

“You can go back you know… get a better ending. I have the feeling that you could have been a better friend to someone…” I turned around and looked at the very defeated Flowey, “You can RELOAD your last save. Usually, I’d say you’d need to be DETERMINED, but you seem to get along just fine without a red SOUL… so… just go already.” I smiled a little and kneeled down in front of Flowey, almost reaching out with my bloody hand, but I switched to my left one. I gently pet his head and laughed at how affronted he looked.

“Maybe you could be a little better too, Flowey. I’ll still kick your ass, anytime, anywhere though, so don’t get too eager there.” Flowey looked incredibly conflicted before settling into a sneer.

“It’s still a KILL or BE killed world, you idiot!” I gave him a sharp grin in return.

“Maybe, but I think I’ll take my chances, you rabid weed.” I gave a laugh as Flowey tried to bite me, but my hand was too far away from his creepy mouth. I stood and looked around. _Hmm… be DETERMINED, huh? I wonder…_ I thought back to the last save point I saw. I thought about how much I wanted to go back, to try again, and to be a better friend. Beyond my closed eyes, my violet heart pulsed red as I was filled with DETERMINATION. I WILL go back. I WILL try again. INVICTUS will be my guide... ‘ _I am the captain of my SOUL’._ I felt the world shift around me and I opened my eyes. Everything was grey. I did it. My knees gave out on me as I collapsed. My breathing hitching as I clutched my hand and shook. Tears fell from my eyes in rivulets as I tried to calm down.

Every emotion I pushed away bubbled to the surface in the quiet of the hallway. Every ounce of fear that I felt, every devastating moment of death, and those too long stretches of time I lost my humanity to rabid instinct. _How long did I loose myself to the point that my own SOUL lost its color?_ I nearly jumped when I felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around me. A gentle croon filled my ears.

“shh… it’s okay. sansy’s got ya. what happened to your hand, tumble?” he reached over and gently cradled my bloody hand, “ya did quite a number on yourself there. whoever it was, i hope they got dunked on good.” I let out a sputtering laugh and nodded. “good. let’s get you fixed up. i heard undyne wanted a favor from you, but you might want to get some rest first. you were gone… wherever you were, for about two weeks in total. i doubt you actually slept during that time.” I nodded my head and gripped Sans’ shoulder with my good hand.

“So tired, but I have to do something…”

“it can wait. go on ahead and SAVE real quick. that should give you enough of a pick up to make it home alright.” I nodded and looked down at the save point.

I’m so tired and empty, but I’m not alone, so I can PERSEVERE.

“there we go, that takes care of your health, now I just need to bandage this up real quick. hmm… a sprain, but i’m good with bones, so that’ll be healed real quick. better take it easy for a while anyway, ‘kay? heh, go on ahead and pass out, i know a shortcut back home.” I only vaguely registered being picked up and tucking my head in the fluffy part of Sans’ hoodie. Dull pain throbbed through my entire body, particularly in my hand, and the gentle sway of Sans’ lazy steps rocked me to sleep before I even noticed that we never walked through Snowdin. Sans just took a shortcut directly into his house. The lazy bastard.

\--It’s difficult to be anything but honest when you’re half asleep—

Sans carefully tucked Tumble into his bed. He would have used the couch, since his room was such a mess all the time, but with Undyne here, that wasn’t such a good idea. Sans let out a hefty sigh as he sat down and began to treat Tumble’s hand. Save points could recover lost health, but more serious injuries don’t get healed so easily. Thankfully, he was rather experienced in healing bone related injuries. Papyrus used to fracture his bones with his crazy stunts all the time when they were younger. Sure, being made of magic and dust made for a more flexible body, even when it didn’t seem like it, but that didn’t make them invulnerable. A cyan blue trail began to seep from his left eye as a similar aura surrounded Tumble’s hand. Bits of glass flew out of the skin and were suitably tossed into the garbage nearby. Tumble’s knuckles were slightly scarred, but would be fine in a few days. Just to be sure, Sans wrapped bandages around the area. He sat back with a sigh and carefully looked over the sleeping human.

There was a time, quite a few timelines ago, when he would have been willing to do the same thing for Frisk. Back before the second Genocide run. But Frisk was so DETERMINED, all the time, so he never had a need to… or maybe he didn’t look close enough. He never had the chance to open up about the timelines with Frisk, they didn’t even seem to remember anything on occasion either, so it was always a toss-up as to whether or not Frisk knew what was going on or not. He carefully brushed back some of the wildly curly hair from Tumble’s face, only slightly surprised when hazel eyes blearily looked up at him.

“S’ns… w’atcha doin’?” oh dear lord, they sounded like Papyrus did when he woke up too early and found them on the couch watching TV.

“Wondering where you were for so long.” Sans said with a smirk, not actually expecting Tumble to tell him anything. Sleepily, Tumble closed their eyes again.

“I was in a dark place… d’mon weed was o’er-p’wered with the SO’Ls. I couldn’t leave ‘til I gave h’m the power… to S’VE and shit…” Sans was deeply worried that Tumble would stop, but no, just resting a little more, “I died… sooo many times. I… lost m’self. My SO’L lost its c’lor. I was alone. I call’d f’r help. _But someone came_. The SOULs. One by one. I ‘membered you guys. Didn’t even notice I forgot. I remembered _who_ I was. My SOUL found its col’r ‘gain. I ‘eard your mess’ge. I was DET’RM’NED to go back. So I did… I’m tired, S’ns…” Sans didn’t even try and stop the pun.

“Well, tired, don’t let me hold you back.” Sans didn’t even dodge the heavy slap—or rather, the light tap to his cheekbones.

“G’nna smack you… Temmie Arm’r… b’ch.” And they were out like a light. Sans chuckled a little and turned off the light. He had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a small note, ever notice how Sans refuses to capitalize shit? Well, in the whole 'You'll be dead where you stand' conversation? When he talks about Toriel and her laughing at his jokes he capitalized 'I'. It just hit me at that part that he would probably have capitalization where it grammatically matters if he FEELS in that moment, ya know? Anyway, just wanted to point that out. Anyway, enjoy cx


	24. Sometimes, We Make Questionable Life Decisions

When I woke up, I felt so drained and tired. I seemed to be in a darkened room that smelled a little like ketchup and… _Sans_. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. I wasn’t sure how to feel about anything, to be honest. I threw off the blankets, throwing the… extraordinarily blurry room a confused look. Where did my glasses go? A door opened up and a rather short, blurry blue figure walked into the room.

“i see you’re up, sleepy-bones. glasses are on the table next to you.” I fumbled around the table, nearly knocking off the glasses, and slipped them on my face. I looked over at Sans, a little confused as to why he was holding a paper bag.

“What’cha got there, Sansy?” he grinned as he opened the bag.

“can’t risk undyne and paps making spaghetti, so i got you grillbys. enjoy. you can take a shower and talk to undyne when you’re ready.” I waited until Sans was handing me the bag before grabbing his hand and pulling him into a hug. I wasn’t sure how, but hugging his middle was kind of like hugging an airbag, though I could sort of feel his ribs and spine. How does that even work? I was too exhausted to cry, so I settled for squeezing him hard. “heh, you’re awfully cuddly today… you’re trying to crush me again, aren’t you?” I let out a laugh and shook my head.

“No… just wanted to hug you, bro.” he seemed to freeze at that and I got a little nervous. _I didn’t quite mean it literally, but…I’d like to._ He let out another chuckle and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

“guess it’s a little too late to say i don’t care, isn’t it?” I felt something lightly tap my head, glancing up revealed that it was just Sans’ jaw bone on my head. After a long moment we both pulled back, the paper sack resting on the bed at my side. I rubbed at my face and opened the bag, laughing when I saw a couple of burgers and fries inside. Sans grabbed my right hand and gentle felt out the bones, checking to see how well they were healing. I ate with the other hand to save time.

“I’ll take a shower and call Goat Mom before checking with Undyne about what she wants. How long was I asleep?” Sans laughed a little.

“just a day. talk to me before ya leave, ‘kay kid?” I glared at Sans as he ruffled my hair and left the room. Was that a trash tornado over in the corner? And since when did he ever need a treadmill? I tried to ignore these burning questions and finish my food. My bag was next to the bed, so a grabbed a change of clothes and headed for a shower.

The shower was probably the most rejuvenating thing I’ve done in days. My hair was damp but I had no doubt that the curls would be back to maximum capacity shortly. I snagged my phone and pressed the call button, a little surprised that it was ten in the morning.

“Hello my child! Has something happened?” I laughed at the familiar warmth of Goat Mom’s voice.

“Nah, just wanted to hear your voice. I’m going to run an errand for a friend and go see Asgore about staying. I’d hate to skip that and end up with a mob outside the Ruins. I’ll see you guys soon, okay? Tell Frisk that I kept my promise. They’ll know what I’m talking about.” I heard a questioning hum over the phone line.

“Very well, my child. I will see you soon.” Why did that feel ominous all of a sudden? I ended the phone call and reluctantly headed downstairs. The yellow and green flannel shirt fitting nicely under a pair of nice overalls. My sturdy combat boots thudding down the stairs.

“Hey! Tumble, there you are! I was about to call you! Can you deliver a letter for me?” I gave Undyne a look.

“Well, I don’t exactly work at the Post Office, but I’ll see what I can do.” Undyne gave me a big grin and handed over a plain white envelope. I took it from Undyne and looked expectantly at her.

“What? Oh, right, give this to Alphys for me, please. And don’t look at it!” I gave Undyne a look to match her sneer.

“Do I look like a Nosey Nancy to you? I’ll deliver your letter… but why can’t you do it?” Undyne laughed.

“Cause it’s hot as hell in the Hotlands!” I snorted and shook my head. Thank god for the River Person. I threw on my coat, but not any of the winter wear. I’d be in the Hotlands soon enough. I looked around for Sans but couldn’t spot him.

“looking for someone?” I spun around to see Sans standing in the kitchen with a bottle of ketchup. He tipped back his head and _fucking chugged ketchup out of the bottle_. I gagged and looked away.

“ _Son of a—_ Sans, what the hell? That is so gross! Ugh! Good bye, Sans!” I shook my head and headed out, Sans’ laughter ringing out before he pulled me back into a hug.

“aw, is that anyway to talk to your _big brother_?” I let out dying whale sounds before replying.

“ _You drink ketchup from the bottle, you are dead to me._ _I regret **everything**_.” At least that explains why he perpetually smells like ketchup. Sans continued to laugh.

“then i won’t feel bad about this.”

“About what?”

“hey, paps, guess who’s our newest sibling? our _youngest_ sibling?” Papyrus popped out of his room and dashed down the stairs. _How did he even hear Sans?!_

“WHO IS IT, SANS?”

“tumble.” Papyrus’ eyes freaking sparkled.

“TRULY, BROTHER? I FINALLY GET TO BE THE OLDER BROTHER TOO?! YES! NYEH-HEH-HEH! WORRY NOT, TUMBLE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE BEST OLDER BROTHER I CAN BE!” son of a bitch, I couldn’t say no the cinnamon roll if I tried! Damn you, Sans!

“That’s great, Paps, but I really need to run an errand for Undyne—“ Sans’ grip tightened around me. _Don’t you fucking dare…_

“family hug?” Sans asked quietly. Naturally, Papyrus had zero hesitation for swooping in and swinging _both_ Sans and I around like rag dolls.

“PUT ME DOWN YOU HOOLIGANS!” Sans and Papyrus both laughed their signature laughs. It was at least another twenty minutes before I could escape.

\--Family of choice is always more difficult to deny than family of birth. Mostly because you actually signed up for the family of choice, and as such, lack deniability for your actions.—

I was now standing in front of Alphys’ lab, a loud knock echoing off the heavy door.

“Y-Y-Yes?”

“It’s me, Tumble. I got a delivery. Let me in?” I heard nervous skittering as the door opened to a very torn looking Alphys, “Damn. You look terrible. What’s the matter?” Alphys moved aside to let me through and nervously wrung her hands.

“W-Well… I’ve had this secret for a long time and I just… uh, what was it you came here for again?” I smiled and handed Alphys the letter.

“Undyne asked me to give this to you. Where’s Mettaton? I could visit with him while you read the letter.” I said gently as she pointed up the escalator before setting to work opening the tightly shut letter with a blush on her face. I left to give her some privacy and looked at a very put out Mettaton in his old calculator form.

“Oh, hello darling, I didn’t expect to see you so soon! I wanted to thank you for boosting my ratings so much!”

“Huh, I figured you’d be more concerned about the fact that you tried to kill me…” Mettaton gave a whirring sound that vaguely resembled a laugh.

“That’s show business darling!... No hard feelings though, right?” Mettaton said nervously, his front turning towards the escalator back down and the hammer next to him.

“Nah… _but if you pull something like that again, you won’t like what I do to your ‘face’. I know my way around sandpaper, Metta. And I ain’t afraid to show you._ ” a very alarmed beeping noise filled the silence for a few seconds before I continued, “By the way, have you talked with Nabs lately?” Mettaton’s face flashed different colors.

“But of course! I called my darling cousin a few hours ago as thanks for his support. I made plans to visit him after my repairs are done. I even offered to hire him as a DJ for my show.” I nodded happily as a very startled squeak echoed from downstairs. I shot a look in that direction before looking back at Mettaton.

“I wonder what was in that letter Undyne gave Alphys anyway?” I muttered to myself. Mettaton gave a high pitched beeping sound.

“A letter from Undyne?! Finally, darling those two have been dancing around each other for _ages_. I wonder when the wedding will be?”

“Woah now, they aren’t even dating yet… Undyne and Alphys? Well then, that explains a few things. I should probably check on Alphys, she’s a little awkward with social things.” Mettaton gave his whirring laugh and waved me away.

“Give me all the dirty details, ASAP!” I blew Metta a raspberry and headed downstairs. Alphys was running back and forth in a panicked frenzy before she spotted me.

“TUMBLE! Please, you have to help me, what do I do?!” yeah, this should be _very_ interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first fanart I've ever 'received' here: http://theta-mcbride.deviantart.com/art/Tumble-and-Frisk-vs-Old-Smith-583996930
> 
> That's fantastic, by the by, just knowing that someone was willing to take the time to actually MAKE something for what I have written. It's fabulous and makes me giggle. I know there's an etiquette thing on Deviantart about commissions but usually A) I'm broke or B) I really don't care about hunting down a particular artist, so the fact that someone was willing to do it because they COULD is fantastic. Just, absolutely fantastic. Thank you, really cx
> 
> Also, I hope you guys are ready for super awkward role-playing. If there's room, i'll write the True Lab adventure thing as well. Tumble also doesn't curse a lot at first because of the whole Omega Flowey battle, but she'll be back in full swing shortly. Trust me. I fully believe that the family dynamic will expand to include the main cast of Undertale soon. Some baggage does need to be put aside first though. I have plans for Sans and Frisk to come together and talk sometime in the future, but probably in the sequel. so, yeah. Enjoy this FLUFF and prepare for the basement of nope. Trust me, Tumble will be cursing like a sailor at the end of THAT particular adventure.


	25. Dating is Awkward... Become a Robot-Cat Lady Instead

I looked over the letter a third time. Why wasn’t I surprised that the letter was so incredibly aggressive, polite, and totally unsigned by Undyne? I looked over at the very conflicted Alphys.

“Well, first things first… do you like Undyne too?” Judging by the very lovely shade of red Alphys went, I’d say yes, “Okay then. We can go about this a few different ways. She sent you a letter, so replying with one is an option. You could tell her over the phone, though your track record of phone conversations dictates that will take longer than needed, or you can prepare to tell her in person.” Alphys’ eyes went wide in fear.

“I-I-IN PERSON?!”

“Well, yeah, unless Undyne is psychic all of a sudden, then in person is probably the best way to do it.” _I cannot believe I’m about to do this,_ “I’ll even role play with you… ya know, to practice. We can go on a date and you can pretend I’m Undyne. For your sake, I’ll try and not be too aggressive, like Undyne usually is.” Alphys began to fret about, completely and totally losing her shit.

“G-G-Go on-n-n-n a d-d-d-date w-w-with Undyne?! C-C-Confess!? I-I-I can’t! T-There’s n-no w-w-way!” I snagged the back of Alphys’ lab coat and hoisted the panicked lizard up for a few moments.

“You can and you will. Go on, get dressed in date clothes. Then, we’ll go to wherever it is that you and Undyne like to go. There, we will pretend as though it’s a real thing and you will confess. Afterwards, you will be filled with such confidence that confessing for real will be a walk in the park. Got it?” I barked at Alphys, channeling a little bit of ‘Undyne’ into my speech. Alphys was more red than yellow at this point as she nodded furiously. “Good. Now, go on!” I shoo’d Alphys away and snorted to myself. My god these two were way too cute. Undyne called in a panic and asked for the letter back, though, and that was funny as hell. The dying screech she made when I said that Alphys already read it and was in a tizzy was _perfect_. Afterwards, I stood there awkwardly waiting for a bit before Alphys finally stepped out in a nice polka-dotted dress.

“I-I’m ready! L-Let’s g-go to the garbage dump!” _They dumpster dive?_

“You look lovely, Alphys. Here, let me escort you all fancy-like.” I offered my arm for Alphys to hold and she giggled and took it.

“M-My, what a gentleman!”

“Well, I have a difficult time imagining Undyne as the ‘lady’ of the relationship, so this works out just fine, doesn’t it?” Alphys seemed to choke on something and refused to look me in the eye all the way to the garbage dump place. _Yep, still an absolute mess, just like the last time I visited._ _Hopefully that weirdo, Mad Dummy, isn’t still here_.

“W-Well, uh… Dating Start? U-Undyne, h-how are you?” I tried to stand up straighter and with attitude.

“I’m doing great Alphys, and you?”

“G-Great! Uh…. I brought g-gifts! Here, water-proof scale cream!”

“Thanks you Alphys! Say… what was it you needed again?” I said, trying to bring this weird encounter to an end. Alphys seemed a little panicked for a second.

“U-Unydne…. I-I wanted t-to tell y-you s-s-something!”

“Well, Alphys, go on ahead and let it out!” _dear god this is so freaking weird_.

“Undyne… I-I’ve been hiding the truth from you this whole time! Seaweed doesn’t actually have any scientific research that it’s good for you! Those history books I have are actually comics! The anime shows I watch are actually not real!” I spotted Undyne walking up to us, seems she heard Alphys. _Whoops_. “A-And I really like you, Undyne! Like, a lot!”

“What the hell is this? You guys on a date? Woah, Alphys, you look nice!” Undyne said in confusion. I have to admit, the combination of the leather jacket and black tank was a really good look for Undyne. Wait, that’s not the point here. _Should I? …Hell yeah_.

“Actually, this is a dating simulation. Uh, I guess you heard the practice run for your date with Alphys then, Undyne?” Aaannnd, Alphys jumped into a garbage can out of embarrassment. Wow. Undyne shifted her focus to the garbage can, like anyone else would at this point.

“Alphys… I don’t care about all that!” Undyne then proceeded to win love-interest of the year award by slam dunking Alphys, while still in the garbage can, through a random basketball hoop, “Cause all of that crap is just nerdy stuff to me! What I care about is that you’re passionate about it! THAT YOU GET FIRED UP ABOUT YOUR NERDY CRAP! IT’S THE FIRE THAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU! STARTING NOW, WE ARE WORKING ON YOUR SELF-ESTEEM!”

“W-Wow, Undyne, you’re going to train me?” _that’s actually kind of sweet_ …

“Ha! No, Papyrus will do it for me!” _and the sweet turns sour… wow._ On the plus side, Papyrus’ ‘work-out’ outfit was probably the highlight of the year for me.

“COME ON, ALPHYS! GET THOSE BONES SHAKING! 100 LAPS AROUND THE HOTLANDS, SCREAMING ABOUT HOW GREAT WE ARE! LET’S GO!” Papyrus then bodily threw Alphys the Trash Can Lizard out of sight. _Sweet jesus…_ Undyne laughed and turned towards me nervously.

“S-She was kidding, right? Anime is real, right?” Undyne got a starry look in her eye, “Awesome giant sword fights, kick-ass princesses, and dragons! I-It actually happened, right?” _why do I get the feeling I’ll be beaten by the six pack of fish sticks if I say no_.

“Yep. Totally.” Undyne let out a wild yelp and dashed off. _Good to know someone’s dreams are coming true… now I should probably go back and try that fight with Asgore again. Dear sweet jesus, please don’t have Omega Flowey again… I’m not sure if I can go through that again._

I cut through Alphys’ lab but stopped when I spotted the note. _Holy hell, did they already finish? Damn, Papyrus, you trying to kill the otaku?_

“Hey. Thanks for your help back there. You guys… Your support means a lot to me. But… as difficult as it is to say this… You guys alone can’t make my problems magically go away. I want to be a better person. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. And for that to happen I have to be able to face my own mistakes. I’m going to start doing that now. I want it to be clear. This isn’t anyone else’s problem but mine. But if you don’t ever hear from me again… if you want to know “the truth.” Enter the door to the north of this note. You all at least deserve to know what I did.” _Uh… Alphys… The fuck did you do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I took a nap yesterday... a five hour nap. I then proceeded to miss my cases today, so in apology for everything, I will be finishing my required reading book and working on the True Lab shit tonight. Well, True Lab tonight, book tomorrow. Expect Gaster allusions soon~ Enjoy


	26. For Science!

Okay, I need to remember to talk with Alphys about her lab. For one, sudden death by elevator is not how I wanted to end my life, or why I nearly shit myself for that matter. The fact that her entire lab looks like the ending credits of a horror movie was also disconcerting. The ‘informative’ screens with notes on them were also ominous as fuck. The fact that to get to the generator I need _colored keys_ was also a sticking point for me, since those keys are spread throughout the lab. You know, instead of next to the generator, like anyone with fucking common sense would put them.

_There’s something here… Something in the shape of a man._

HOW ABOUT NO!? OH, YEAH, AND FUCK THE ‘DT EXTRACTION MACHINE’ WHILE I’M AT IT! I CAN FUCKING RECOGNIZE MY SHAPES, BITCH. Creepy ass reindeer and fucking Omega Flower. Hell. No.

The fact that these vaguely familiar white masses were damn near everywhere I went was insanely terrifying. I’m not a timid person by nature, but this place has me shaking. Jesus fucking Christ, is this place the reason why Alphys is so… socially awkward?! Yeah, I’d have problems communicating with my peers too if I created _fucking goopy white monsters from the remains of previously alive monsters_. I also did not appreciate how I had to remind these bitches that at one time they were separate individuals and not… _amalgamates_. Jesus Christ this whole place is a feels trip wrapped in bloody horror-ribbons of NOPE.

**“No No NO NO NO”**

_Heh, yeah, that was my thoughts exactly._ Though… it was kind of weird. After I read that one, internal debates with myself as to whether it was wise to continue reading them aside, I could almost see this flickering screen next to it labeled 17. At first it seemed to read like Alphys’ other notes, but then they visually flickered to strange symbols… a familiar voice in my head reading them aloud yet I somehow seem to understand it on some level.

**“monsters’ physical forms _[DARK DARKER] can’t handle the [YET DARKER] “determination” [THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING] like humans’ can. [THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER] with too much determination, [PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE] our bodies begin to break down. [THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY INTERESTING…] everyone’s melted together… [WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?]_**

The fucking hell? It gives me a god damn headache and the sound of static seems to loop through my ears. The video tapes from Asgore’s place were also very concerning. This “Chara” kid was either pretty damn disturbed or really fucking edgy with their morals. Nice to know for certain that Toriel and Asgore used to have a cute relationship though.

**the flower’s gone.**

SON OF A BITCH ALPHYS?! REALLY?! FUCKING REALLY? YOU HAPPEN TO BE THE CREATOR OF FUCKING FLOWEY? Wait… didn’t they say that the ashes were usually deposited on a monster’s favorite thing so their consciousness would live on? So… Asriel… Flowey… like… Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? SON OF A BITCH, GOAT KID (pft… Goat Kid…) BETTER NOT BE THE PART THAT’S OMEGA FLOWEY OR TORIEL AND ASGORE HAVE SOME SERIOUS CHILD RAISING EXPLAINATIONS TO DO!

When I finally make it through FUCKING NOPE LAB OF THE STUDY OF HELL NO PHENOMENON—and get all the keys to open the door to the generator—I am less than pleased to be cornered by the goopy pseudo-monsters of yester-year. Less. Than. Pleased.

“They get a little sassy when they aren’t fed on time.” _Alphys, you may be a secret science bad ass, but fucking ‘sassy’ is not how you describe individuals that were about to fucking kill you_. _You are so lucky that I appreciate you as an individual too much to smack you, you awkward fucking lizard._

“Everything’s coming together… see you soon.”

“THE FUCK KIND OF MESSAGE IS THIS?! SON OF A BITCH I AM OUT. FUCKING OUT. ALPHYS, DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING LEAVE ME HERE!”

\--The most enduring question of science is not if we _can_ do it, but if we _should_. Tumble says: HELL NO.—

_Okay, now let’s try that fight again. I wonder if it’s possible to convince him I don’t want to fight **this** time?_ I went down familiar gray halls until I reached that final save point.

With enough effort, I can do anything, and that single fact fills me with PERSEVERENCE.

Alright, that’s… that’s not too bad. Somewhat ominous that I need a motivational speech, but whatever. I entered the room to see Asgore kneeling among the golden flowers. _Great, now all I can think about is how he’s cultivating Flowey’s cousins… brothers… sisters? Agender relatives, how about that shit? Jesus Christ this family is a mess._

“I’ll be right with you… Howdy! Oh… you’re a human…” _still really awkward_ , “I so badly want to say ‘would you like a cup of tea’? But, you know how it is. Come when you are ready.” _Oh joy, I can’t wait to have my [MERCY] option obliterated again. How the hell does he break through the fourth wall like that anyhow?_ (Like father like son—SHUT THE HELL UP BRAIN. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS!) I followed after him.

“Seriously, Asgore, I don’t want to fight you! I came to discuss something! Asgore!” I called out as I dashed into the optical illusion room again.

“I see… you are prepared. Let us begin.” Aaannnnnddd enter battle mode. Fucking hell. But, before he could even make the first strike, a familiar ball of flame appeared and _knocked his bitch ass into the shadows! Goat Mom?!_

“What a wretched creature, attacking such a poor innocent youth…” Toriel said with a glare at Asgore’s fallen figure.

“Goat Mom?! What are you doing here?” Toriel smiled at me happily.

“When you said that you planned on staying, I knew that Asgore would likely refuse to listen. He’s never been very good at _that_.” And damn. I can feel the hate from here.

“Wait, what about Frisk?!” Toriel looked confused for a moment.

“I could have sworn Frisk was right behind me—“ I was nearly flattened when a small mass jumped onto my back. Purple sleeves wrapped around my neck and I laughed happily. There, clinging like a monkey on a tree, was Frisk.

“Baby!” I maneuvered Frisk around into a proper hug and spun them around.

“Tumble! You’ve done so well! I love you!” I laughed as Frisk attempted to strangle me with love.

“I love you too, midget! But I swear, if you ever make me do another promise so _taxing_ again, I will end you!” Frisk laughed and jumped back down, skipping over to Goat Mom.

“WHAT KIND OF OLDER BROTHER WOULD I BE IF I LET YOU DO THIS ON YOUR OWN? SANS IS HERE TOO!” Papyrus bounded in as energetically as ever with Sans lazily following behind. I made sure to glare at him and mouth ‘ketchup’ as disdainfully as possible at him.

“heh, yeah. can’t get rid of me now kid.” fucker was too smug about that shit.

“U-Undyne and I are here too!”

“Yeah, punk! Figured you needed the support!”

I basked in the warm glow I felt from their support while Asgore awkwardly tried to talk to Toriel, and Undyne and Alphys almost kissed.

“By the way, Papyrus, were you the one that called everyone here?”

“Yes! Well, not everyone… but I had the help of a small yellow flower…”

“A-A s-small f-flower?!” SON OF A BITCH.

“Hehehe! You’re such an idiot!” vines whipped out from everywhere as THAT FUCKING DICK POPPED UP WITH A SMUG GRIN. Everyone was being held up with thick vines as Flowey laughed. “Well, Frisk, if you insist on someone else as the main character, then _you have to deal with the side character problems_.”

“YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HURTING THEM, I WILL FUCKING MOW. YOU. DOWN!”

“Well, if you don’t want them to get hurt, you’ll have to just _sit by and let me kill you_.” I felt my field of movement narrow down as a row of bullets came at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. We're here. Almost the end of the True Pacifist run! Hah, Tumble will be so pissed at Sans when they see Genocide!Sans. Haha, think like that fan comic running around where Frisk is all like "THE FUCK MAN?!" and Sans just shrugs. 
> 
> We see you, you little shit. We. See. You.
> 
> (-_-) Frisk is not impressed with your bullshit, Sans. Not impressed.  
> (=_=) Tumble (without glasses) won't be either.


	27. Make Time for Family Bonding Time

_Tink!_ I opened my eyes in shock as I took note of the wall of fire that consumed the bullets. I looked over at Toriel in shock.

“Do not worry, my child! I will always protect you!” Flowey gave an angry screech and tried again. _Tink!_ This time it was a wall of bone.

“WHAT KIND OF OLDER BROTHER WOULD I BE IF I JUST STOOD BY?”

“what, you haven’t beaten him already? just kidding, we’ve got you, Tumble.” _you little shit…_

“I don’t have magic, but I know you can do this! _You’ll be okay, Tumble! I promise!” Tink!_

“I’ve got your back, punk!” _Tink!_

“M-Mettaton and I have this! D-Don’t w-worry!”

“I support _all_ my fans!” _Okay, I appreciate the thought, but I wouldn’t say I’m a **fan**_ … _Tink!_ Every monster I had ever encountered showed up, loudly giving me support from the demonic fucking weed… I felt so… _warm_. My SOUL visibly swelled and bobbed happily.

“Y-You IDIOTS!” Flowey was enraged and incredibly pleased with himself, “You just had to do it, didn’t you? You had to make them care? Because of you… I NOW HAVE **ALL THE SOULS IN THE UNDERGROUND!** ” the human SOULs… the monster SOULs… they were all sucked into Flowey and a white light blinded me.

There, in the darkness, was a small… kid in a green and yellow sweater. Slowly, as though unused to it, the flexed their hands and sighed before turning around.

“Howdy! It’s nice to meet you… and to be something other than a flower after so long. We’ve never met before… well, not really.” _Son of a bitch… this is…_ “I’m Asriel Dreemurr. I have to admit, having something new after all this time is kind of exciting, don’t you think?” his cute features seemed to sharpen as he grew in size. Asriel grew horns and fangs and he wore a robe with the Delta Rune like Toriel did.

Oh yeah, and everything LOOKED SO FUCKING TRIPPY. JESUS CHIRST. OMEGA FLOWEY. ASRIEL. APPARENTLY THE FORM DOESN’T MATTER, THE BATTLE IS A FUCKING ACID TRIP EITHER WAY. I dodged out of the way of every crazy attack I could, barely registering what Asriel was saying.

“All I want is to restart everything! All you have to do is give up and _everyone can be happy!_ ” I damn near tripped into a fucking star cluster before replying.

“And waste everyone’s efforts? Sorry, kid, no can do!” I spun around and dodged another fucking cluster. I [DREAM]’d and [HOPE]’d but it was merely a delaying tactic. I knew that. “I can go all day, Asriel! I will PERSEVERE!” I exclaimed. Asriel narrowed his eyes at me. Lighting rained down and I nearly got electrocuted several times… and then my ass got fried on the last cluster, unfortunately. _Shit that hurts!_ Asriel laughed as everything went startlingly dark. A creepy ass skull as front and center as it began to suck everything into it. I struggled against its pull until everything went white. I was back in the battle with Asriel like NONE OF THAT SHIT JUST FUCKING HAPPENED.

“Very well then. I guess I should show you my true power… this is only a fraction of what I’m capable of after all. Especially with all the monster SOULs at my disposal… and Frisk’s too. Let’s see what good your PERSEVERENCE is against this!!” I gasped as Asriel underwent one final transformation. AND THE TRIPPY FACTOR WENT OVER NINE THOUSAND.

**Asriel Dreemurr: God of Hyperdeath**

_Oh, well if he’s **only** the **God** **of** **Hyperdeath** …_ His body now resembled the Delta Rune as his wing like appendages seemed to reflect vague colors and even the shapes of the monster SOULs he took. His lower half looks like a heart with a crack going down the middle. After that final transformation… well, I got my ass kicked. Hard. His attacks just kept coming and coming, the zone I used to rely on out of reach with the heavy weight of knowledge burdening my SOUL.

Can’t move your body. The whole world is ending.

The knowledge that everyone I care about is in Asriel… somewhere… and… it was my fault. No! It’s not! It’s not like I spent time… cultivating relationships with them… It’s not like I supported them like they supported me… it’s not like. Like… I finally let other people in. _And look where it got them. Look where it got **you**_. _You forgot… didn’t you? What relying on, depending on, other people gets you? It’s just you and Frisk… against the world, remember?_ ** _D O N ‘ T Y O U R E M E M B E R, T U M B L E?_**

_What’s wrong Will? C’mon, you can tell me anything…_

_…_

_Well, isn’t it your fault then?_

_…_

_What are you even complaining about? Stop being so sensitive!_

_“… it’s okay. sansy’s got ya.”_

_“…my child.”_

_“WHAT KIND OF AN OLDER BROTHER WOULD I BE IF I JUST STOOD BY?”_

_“M-Mettaton and I have this! D-Don’t worry!”_

_“I got your back, punk!”_

_“You’ll be okay, Tumble! I promise!”_ those familiar voices rang in my head, pulling me out of the memory just in time to dodge the cannon of light. That was a little too close… maybe if I went back I could… but no amount of DETERMINATION could pull me pack.

But maybe, with what little power you have left, you can SAVE something else…

But I had so little health left from the whole. Just 5/275. I was so _tired_ … I didn’t know if I could save them all on my own… _I’m sorry, Frisk—_ I didn’t even see the attack that mowed my ass down. My SOUL shattered and shook… before coming back together.

But it refused _… bitch._

_\--BUT YOU HAVE TO HOLD ON JUST A LITTLE LONGER! I CAN… I WILL PERSEVERE!_

I had go through the battle all over again… but I was _prepared_ this time. I _would_ _PERSEVERE_.

\--But maybe, with what little power you have left, you can SAVE something else—

This time, I knew I had to try. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I failed, but… _just in case… I know Frisk can go on in my place_.

“Frisk! My cherub!” _So I called Frisk first._ Their face was blurred out and they seemed to be saying something.

**“I can’t fight it. I’m always _so alone_. Nothing matters. Pacifist. Genocide. It all RESTARTs in the end. Why do I even bother _fighting anymore?”_**

“You don’t have to, baby! That’s what an older sibling does! They help you fight _your_ battles! Just… just please… please come back! _You don’t have to be alone anymore._ ” I embraced Frisk and tried not to cry. “… _Deep inside of you, there’s a ruby glow, and it gets brighter than you or I will ever know… I’ll meet you there.”_ I sang softly into their hair failing to not cry when Frisk returned the hug before pulling away, their features finally clear. Well, as clear as they can be through so many fucking tears.

“I knew I was your favorite!” I laughed through a sob.

“Y-Yeah… you always will be!”

“I told you everything would be okay! Go SAVE the others, Tumble!” and Frisk was gone, but I could almost feel them standing behind me, supporting me. I looked decisively at Asriel. _Who next?_

“Bro, P—“ before I could even finish his name, Papyrus appeared with Sans next to him. Like Frisk before them, their faces were blurred, but I’d recognize those skeletons anywhere. _Of course they’d both answer to ‘Bro’_. _Of course they’d never leave the other alone._

“I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!”

“why even try? i gave up a long time ago…” I let my tears fall down.

“Because you care, you prick! Paps, wouldn’t you rather have spaghetti?” the familiar attacks were easy to dodge.

“… BUT I MUST!”

“…why even bother?”

“You think I’d try so hard for people I hate?! Sans! You DRINK FUCKING KETCHUP AND I CAN’T LET GO OF THAT, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU ANYWAY, YOU PRICK! Papyrus, you’re such a cinnamon roll, I could never leave you like this!” the attacks were now half-hearted at best.

“…”

“…” _son of a bitch, do I have to?_ I looked at their struggling forms, the blurred faces, and knew what I had to do.

“…family hug?” The blurs on their faces broke, almost not fast enough for the two to scoop me up in a _fucking hug that made me feel like I bathed in warm, sweet syrup._

“I COULD NEVER CAPTURE YOU!”

“hehe, you love me to _pieces_ don’t you?” I glared at Sans and squeezed harder.

“Fuck yeah, you _god damn, ketchup drinking weirdo! Fucking shatter!_ You too, Paps!”

“aw, i’m all _broken_ up about it~” I just growled and squeezed harder.

“SANS! NOW IS NOT THE TIME! TUMBLE, WE MUST GO! BUT DON’T GIVE UP, WE’RE WITH YOU, EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!”

“yeah, what he said.”

“SANS!” and with that they were gone, leaving only the reassuring feeling of warmth behind. I turned towards Asriel and knew who would be next.

“Alphys! Get your nerdy ass over here!” Alphys looked a wreck, her features blurred all to hell, and her words nearly broke me.

“I have to keep lying.” I thought it was sweet how her attacks were just like Mettaton’s attacks.

“No you don’t! Alphys, we’re friends! You can always be honest with me!”

“…”

“Come on, tell me about that anime you really like. The one with the neko chick?” Alphys seemed to jump around in excitement.

“You don’t even have to worry about Undyne either, she loves you no matter what! Or at least, she better! I ain’t afraid to have a go at her!” Alphys paused in shock, the blur breaking as she blinked and began to laugh with tears in her eyes.

“Y-You’re just saying that, Tumble!” I went over and embraced her.

“Nah, I really will have a go at Undyne if she doesn’t treat you right! So, just call me and I’ll _be there_.” Alphys returned the hug with a laugh before pulling back.

“You’re almost there, Tumble! J-Just a little more! I’ll be supporting you… just like you supported me…” a new spot of warmth engulfed me. I looked up at Asriel and smiled.

“Yo, Undyne! What happened, you get sleepy?” and there she was in all her angry glory. Her features were blurred, but her stance screamed aggression.

“I WILL DEFEAT YOU!”

“BRING IT ON, FISH STICK!” I screamed back as I used the familiar spear to destroy every arrow that came my way. Something in Undyne must have recognized my _bad-assery_.

“YOU WON’T STAND IN MY WAY!”

“OOPS~ hey, Undyne! Wouldn’t you rather have tea?” another pause encouraged me, “Or we could do another cooking lesson! But… uh, not at my house. I rather like living there.” I laughed a little as the next round seemed rather tame.

“…”

“So… have you and Alphys kissed yet?” I’m 99.9 percent sure that the blush broke the blur this time.

“W-What are you talking about, punk?!” I laughed as I dodged out of Undyne’s reach.

“Aw man, you two are way too cute!” Undyne finally caught me and proceeded to give me a noogie.

“PUNK! There, that ought to teach you better! I gotta go, but I’ll always have your back!” I looked towards Asriel once more.

“Goat Mom!” I was more than a little surprised when _both_ Goat Mom and Asgore appeared.

“I am sorry.”

“It’s for your own good.” their features were heavily blurred in comparison to the others. _Probably because, for all that Asriel tries not to be, he’s still that scared little kid just wanting the comfort of his parents._ A thought occurred to me. _Did I still have it?_ I looked through my bag and there it was.

“Aw man, now I definitely can’t bring myself to fight you guys! I have much better things to do… _like eating cinnamon butterscotch pie_.” I said dramatically as I bit into the slice. _Damn, stored for several days and it still tastes **amazing**_. They both paused for a moment before attacking. It was a little tricky to dodge both of them, but I pulled through in the end.

“It must be done.”

“It’s too dangerous out there.” I looked at the two of them and laughed.

“Hey, Goat Mom… do I have to call Asgore… Goat Dad?” _now that definitely got both of them._ Their attacks were much easier this time around.

“…”

“…”

“I refuse to fight you guys! _I hate fighting with family._ ”

_I can’t believe that you’re actually related to me, Will. **So pathetic.**_

Then the blur shattered and Asgore was smiling with Goat Mom glaring at him.

“You are the hope of our future…” _oh yeah, we never really introduced ourselves, did we?_

“ _Tumble_ , it is _completely unnecessary_ to refer to Asgore as… Goat Dad, because of our previous… _affiliation_.” Wow. That really had to hurt. I hugged Goat Mom before quickly catching Asgore in an embrace as well.

“ _You may call me ‘Goat Dad’ if you wish, Tumble… just don’t tell your mom…”_ Dad pulled back from the hug and sheepishly glanced at mom. I laughed as mom just continued glaring at him.

“We must go, my child. But fear not, we are with you. I know you can do it.” and they were gone. I looked towards Asriel in confusion. _Why do I have the feeling as though there is one more person I can save…_ Then it hit me.

**_“Can Y O U S A V E T H E M? S A N S… P A P Y R U S… F R I S K… A S... L…”_ **

_Oh. As[rie]l… he meant Asriel_. _I looked up at the ‘God of Hyperdeath’ sadly._

_Asriel Dreemurr: the Lost Child._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND A MIRACLE WAS GIVEN TO ME, ON THIS DAY, OF ALL DAYS!
> 
> So... I continued writing last night and finished this chapter... and then... MOTHER FUCKING MICROSOFT WORD STOPPED RESPONDING AND I DID. NOT. SAVE. SHIT. So, consumed by grief at the lack of autosaved file, I put away my computer. AND ON THE NEXT DAY THE PRODIGOUS CHAPTER RETURNED! for the most part... like, all but 1/5 of the chapter, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH! and then... it failed me again, but the autosaved file had 1/7th missing, so I tried again! BUT IT'S HERE NOW!
> 
> Oh, and that comic I referred to in the last chapter is here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/351351208409185580/
> 
> enjoy


	28. Letting Go is Sometimes For the Best

I looked at Asriel resolutely and stood my ground. I chose the [SAVE] option that took the place of [ACT].

You reach out and call their name.

“Asriel! It’s time to end this. _Come back_.” His entire body jerked in surprise.

“W-What are you doing…!?” he seemed to be lost in a flashback, “What is this… feeling? How are you doing this?! No! You’re not even anything like _them_! I DON’T NEED ANYONE!”

_Never again. I. Will never. Trust again._

I smiled sadly as I dodged angry blasts of light. I got a little closer.

“STOP IT! GET AWAY FROM ME!” the attacks became more furious and I wasn’t able to dodge everything. “I…I don’t like this change! _How can you do this to me too?_ ” I got a little bit closer and smiled. The attacks aren’t even close to hitting me anymore.

“Yeah… I know. It hurts. From what I understand, you’ve done this _so many times_. You’ve denied the desire to be close to someone. Rejected the idea that you can’t keep going like this. Repeating your denial, accepting that you can get close to someone again. Only for it all to be undone… I’ve been avoiding the possibility that everything will be undone myself. _But this literally can’t keep happening over and over again_.” I stepped forward and reached out, carefully touching the SOUL in front of me, “I promise… I _pinky_ _promise_ you that I will end this… this _Time Loop_ , one way or another. Even if it takes fighting you a thousand times. _I will save everyone._ But for now… it’s time to stop this. I don’t want to fight you, Asriel. It’s not right on any level.” Asriel sucked in a breath and his eyes teared up.

“S-Stop it! Don’t you understand, I’m doing this for _THEM_. I don’t want to stop playing with them, they’re the only one that’s fun anymore! JUST LET ME WIN!” he raised his arms up but I interrupted him.

“That’s enough, sweetheart. _Playtimes over_.” He cried out and blasted me with a rainbow of light anyway. I watched as my health dropped down to 1 and continued all the way into the decimals. The force wasn’t so much a physical thing as an emotional one. I could _feel_ all of his anguish.

“STOP IT!” he didn’t even stop as he said that until long after I had a ridiculous amount of zeros on my health. “… but I’m so alone…”

“Yeah… I know how that is. I mean, I’ve always had Frisk, but they’re my little cherub. That’s not the same thing as someone to stand by you. It gets… lonely standing by yourself. All… this, is your way of standing on the same level as someone else. Your experiences separate you from everyone else, so you can’t really do that any other way. I get it. _But it needs to stop._ _You’re not half as alone as you think you are, Asriel. I promise._ ”

“ _I’m so afraid…”_

“I know… I may not be Frisk… or Chara… but I can sympathize. This whole thing is really scary. It’s a little ridiculous, actually, how scary all this is. But… hey, you’re still not alone.” Asriel cried out as he returned to his cute goat form, just standing there sobbing. I rushed over and did exactly what I would do if it was Frisk. I wrapped my arms around him.

“I’m so sorry… I’ve always been such a cry baby.” I chuckled as I rocked Asriel a little, calming his tears, “… Frisk usually waits until after I explain Flowey and break the Barrier before comforting me...ha, I just realized I don’t know your name!”

“Well, I’m Tumble, the older sibling, so I have to beat every emotional breakdown to the punch… what about Flowey?”

“As a flower, I can’t feel emotions… but with everyone’s SOULs inside of me, I can feel how much they care for you. I can even feel how much Frisk trusts that everything will be okay knowing you’re here. It’s… nice. I’m filled with so much… compassion. Everyone cares for each other so much… Monsters are so weird, I mean, they barely know you, but they _care so much about you_. I got it with Frisk… I mean, after a few runs… each timeline still happened and emotions tend to cross over. _But you literally just got here_ … I guess Frisk learned from the best, huh?”

“Yeah, my greatest redeeming feature is my ability to charm despite the circumstances. It’s really hard to hate all this awesomeness.” Asriel laughed and clutched me tighter.

“Usually, at this point, I’d say how I understand if you—that is, Frisk—hated me for all I did and refuse to forgive me… but I have the feeling you already have. Haven’t you?”

“Well, yeah. You’re just my sad Little Goat Bro… ugh.” I made a disgusted noise and Asriel let out a soft whine, “Nah, it’s not you. I just really need to stop adopting people. This is getting ridiculous. Good god. Family reunions are going to be a nightmare. Sans will never stop making puns, Goat Mom will only encourage him, Paps will be so frustrated… it’ll be a hell of a party though.” Asriel began to laugh.

“Y-You mean it? T-That I’m your… Goat Bro?”

“ _Little_ Goat Bro. I’m not sure I can survive having another older brother. Even if you are technically older than me… you are older than me, right?”

“Uh… I think so. The Barrier had been up for about fifty years when I died… so probably.”

“ _Jesus Christ, Goat Mom and Dad are so **old**_.” Asriel laughed even harder.

“Asriel… you should probably know that… uh… I don’t have the best family experience. Neither does this timelines (I am so not contemplating the logistics of not-Frisks) Frisk. So, we might mess up from time to time. But we _care_. I promise.” Asriel pulled back.

“Do you promise to fix the timelines? To make it stop? _Even if it means I will be a flower forever?_ ” I presented my pinky finger to him.

“I pinky promise to save _everyone_. If at all possible, I’d like to save you in such a way that you will _live_ , but I will settle for letting you rest in peace once and for all.” Asriel linked his pinky finger with mine.

“That’s probably for the best… I’m going to let go of everyone now, but before that, I’ll break the Barrier. If we’re lucky, the timeline won’t reset, and everyone will finally be _free_. After that… I’ll eventually turn back into Flowey. Take good care of everyone, will you?” I laughed and ruffled his fur extra hard.

“You bet, midget!”

“Hey! I’m taller than you!”

“Maybe when you’re the _God of Hyperdeath_ , but as a little… _kid_ , I think not!”

“Ugh, I’m starting to see why Mom likes you so much!” we laughed as the SOULs erupted from Asriel in a hurricane of white Monster SOULs and six colored human SOULs before white light exploded around us. _That little shit! I didn’t get to say goodbye!_

The Barrier was destroyed.

“ _I don’t want to let go…_ _Goodbye, Tumble_.”

\--We are all just stories in the end, so why not make it a good one?—

“Tumble! Tumble are you okay?” I opened my eyes to see Frisk looming over me.

“Oh no! It’s horrible! I see… a little midget!” I cried out before yanking Frisk to my chest and giving them a noogie.

“Ah! _Tumble!_ Cut it out!” I laughed harder and continued anyway, “Sans! Help me!” my eyes widened as I instantly tried to move away. It was too late. Now I was receiving a noogie.

“heh, well, if you insist.” Sans said as my curls went absolutely everywhere.

“SANS!” I cried out and tried to push him away. I failed, naturally.

“Alright, Sans, that’s enough! Let the punk go!” Undyne said with a grin.

“Ah, my fishy angel of mercy!” I was immediately met with a glare.

“I think it’s my turn instead!” I let out a yelp and hid behind Papyrus. I took a moment to look around. It looked like everyone was here. Mom was laughing while Dad looked incredibly amused.

“My child, it appears as though the Barrier is broken… though we don’t recall how. The last thing we remember was a flower…” ah. Papyrus seemed to stiffen.

“SANS… SANS!”

“yeah bro?”

“WHY DOES ASGORE HAVE A CLONE… A SHAVED CLONE?”

“uh… paps. that’s the queen.”

“YOU CANNOT FOOL ME, BROTHER! THAT IS A CLONE!”

“Oh, you must be Sans and Papyrus. I have heard so much about you from Tumble. I am Toriel, there is no need to call me ‘queen’.”

“SANS! ASGORE’S SHAVED CLONE KNOWS MY NAME!”

“uh… yeah, i’m sans. it’s nice to see you in person.”

I watched the slightly awkward introductions before Frisk tugged on my sleeve.

“Yeah, baby?”

(“What do you skeletons use to tile their roofs?”

“what?”

“ _Shin_ -gles!”

“SANS! ASGORES CLONE IS JUST LIKE YOU AND YOUR BAD PUNS!?”)

“Asriel… is he okay?” Frisk muttered softly. They seemed so worried as I tidied up their hair again.

“He will be one day, sweetie. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to the little Goat Bro.” Frisk giggled before looking up in shock.

“Tumble, if you go all the way back to where we fell, Asriel will be tending the flowers! You can say goodbye before we leave for the surface.”

“Tumble… we will leave for the surface soon. If you wish to say goodbye to anyone or go back and see something, you may do so. We won’t leave without you.” I smiled at Dad.

“Well, there was one thing I wanted to do in the Ruins before I left. I’ll go by boat so it shouldn’t take very long. I’ll be right back.” I turned around and went back the way I came, not noticing the looks Frisk and Sans gave me.

\--Sometimes, we shouldn’t say goodbye—

The walk through Snowdin was filled with people celebrating their freedom, the return of family members (NO NO NO), and what they plan on doing when they reach the surface. Huh. I should probably make some plans about that, considering humanity probably won’t take the resurfacing of monsters reasonably. The walk through the ruins was nostalgic. When I finally made it to the bed of golden flowers it had been… maybe an hour.

Frisk had been correct. There, kneeling the in the flowers, was Asriel.

“I can’t believe you thought you could just run off without saying goodbye!” I exclaimed as I grabbed Asriel from behind. The yelp he made was hilarious.

“Tumble! Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Better than saying goodbye to the most adorable Goat Bro in history? Nope.” I grinned at Asriel’s frustrated whine.

“Tumble!” I was giggling when I felt it. _We aren’t alone_. I stiffened and looked around, “Tumble?” _there, in the shadows… there was a small figure._

**“W E L L, I S N ’ T T H I S T O U C H I N G?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I forgot to mention that I did view the linked video for "Fuck This Shit I'm Out". I now have that piece of gold on my phone for all eternity... or the lifespan of the phone. I also looked at the other link I found in the comments and was like "SON OF A BITCH I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WOULD BE THE BATTLE THEME!?"
> 
> Haha, yeah, but I seriously don't know how many times I can possibly express how glad I am that you guys enjoy this so much. I LOVE feedback.... but uh, not L O V E (if ya get my drift). It makes me all warm and fuzzy to know that this story has gotten so many kudos and hits and comments in SUCH A SHORT SPAN! It boggles my mind! Oh, and I plan on making a oneshot series about the random thoughts in my head, mostly concerning the other timelines. I can have so much fucking fun with 'different Frisks'. I'm thinking of calling it "Undertale and Slightly to the Left". So, look forward to that. I'll tell you guys if I put it up, just FYI, but I thought you'd guys would like to know ahead of time. They won't have Tumble THERE, usually, but there will be plenty of fun times with Frisk. No plot. Just fun. I swear.
> 
> Hehe, Enjoy cx


	29. Taking it All In

Asriel and I stiffened as the shadowy figure stepped into the dappled light. It was… Frisk?

“Frisk? What—how?” I could have sworn that Frisk stayed with Mom!

“…Tumble… that isn’t Frisk?”

“What are you talking about? That’s clearly—“ but then I saw it. _Those glowing red eyes_. “Who the hell are you and why are you possessing Frisk?” Not-Frisk smiled widely and chuckled.

**“That was rather quick. I would have thought it would take me stabbing you in the back to realize that I’m… _not quite Frisk_.”** their voice seemed darker somehow, like the edge of glass cutting your hand in the darkness.

“Chara…” _Chara?!_ _Chara’s_ eyes shifted over to Asriel.

**“I was a little surprised when I realized that you were fine with this… _Pacifist_ ending. But I guess you just knew I would RESET anyway. As for you, Tumble, I suppose I should be thanking you. Make no mistake, I’ve always been _here_ , with Frisk, but when you left Frisk in the Ruins with Mom for _days_ I was slowly able to wean control back to myself. Usually, I have to make the jump between RESETs. Now I get to make _absolutely sure_ that you are both present and unable to interfere in the next run.” ** I narrowed my eyes at Chara.

“What do you mean, the ‘next run’?”

**“Well, Frisk is always such a goody-two-shoes when you were a part of their life before, so I doubt you’d actually stand back and W A T C H M E S L A U G H T E R E V E R Y O N E I N T H E U N D E R G R O U N D. But I’m all about family, so maybe after a few Genocide runs we can go through one together. Just Frisk, you, and me.”** Chara looked over at Asriel, **“Maybe even you, though I could never really find _you_ , just that mockery of a flower.” **Chara’s SOUL thrummed out of their chest. I could actually see the patchwork of dark red over Frisk’s SOUL, which only glowed slightly.

“You will leave Frisk alone, Chara!” I took a step towards Chara, but their arm shot out, worn knife (where did they get that?!) in hand, and I flew backwards. I thought I would slam into the god damn wall but a flash of blue stopped me.

“Y O U W A N N A H A V E A B A D T I M E?” skeletal arms gripped my middle tightly as the room seemed to get colder.

“Sans!” I tried to worm my way out of his grip but he just pushed me behind him. I barely caught sight of the glowing blue left socket. His teeth even seemed sharper like this.

**“Ah. _Sans_. My favorite boss battle. I’m rather surprised, usually you wait until it’s _too late_.” ** Chara looked over at me considering as Sans pushed me farther behind him, **“I guess you’re changing a _lot_ of things, Tumble. Very well, Sans. I don’t mind sending you back to. Not to the same… _place_ as Tumble so to speak. I’d hate to deprive you of a chance at _revenge again_.”**

“Chara! Stop, please!” Chara looked over at Asriel.

**“Don’t worry, brother. It’s not like it even matters when you. Can. Just. RESET.”** Chara brought their arm back up and fire seemed to consume the room. I felt like I was being torn apart as Sans tried to keep hold of me.

“Sans!”

“Tumble!” _but it was too late_.

\--[The problem with darkened trails is that they aren’t as empty as they seem]—

I opened my eyes to a world that seemed to be constantly shifting and blurring, though I could vaguely recognize the golden flower bed from before. My head seemed to be stuffed with cotton and the shadows moved around me. _Wait_. _That’s not a shadow_. It was the pale faced stranger, though he seemed oddly clear when the environment was constantly shifting… something.

His face seemed to consist of two black sockets and a black crescent as a mouth. His left eye had a black crack down his face while his right eye had one running up. His form was kind of… drippy, though I could make out some form of white cloth behind a black cloak that consumed the rest of his body. He brought up his hands, hands that looked like Sans’ and Papyrus’ hands but with smooth round holes in the palms.

“[It is alright, Tumble. Can you understand me?]” at first, I really couldn’t, but like the shifting world around me, something between my ears seemed to move and I could actually understand him suddenly. If I concentrated, I could hear his original words, but I couldn’t understand those… _If I had to describe it, it would be like he’s saying something along the lines of “HIGH FIVE, BIG DIAMOND, SAGITARIOUS, LITTLE DIAMOND…”_ but that just gave me a huge headache. _What the fucking hell?!_

“Yeah… just… yeah. Who the hell are you? Where the hell are we?” He seemed to sigh for a moment.

“[I’m afraid we are in a place just outside of time itself. We can view the current timeline, but occasionally, other timelines may slip through. I am Doctor—]“

“Okay then, that’s nice but I need to stop a possessed child from destroying the entirety of the underground.” Doctor seemed to be frustrated.

“[If that were possible, I’d have finished this a _very_ long time ago.]” he hunched into himself, “[I have watched Chara murder my sons countless times since my banishment here.]” I gave him a look. _Who? OH!_

“Wait, one: you’re Sans’ and Papyrus’ dad?! Two: banished?” Doctor looked up at me and nodded.

“[Almost a century ago I was a royal scientist. I supported my two young sons. I had finished the Core several decades before and was looking into Time Travel. I had hoped to somehow circumvent the Barrier… I believed it could not stand forever. It was then I began to hear the voice. It proposed questions to me. Innocent at first, but with every time I listened the questions got darker. By the time I had full control of Time Travel, via this very world, the voice was almost too strong for me. It was Chara, and their aims were far too dark to discuss in such a fragile world such as this. When it became clear that I would not listen any longer, Chara made a desperate move for control and I fell into the Core. My SOUL shattered across time and space. I cannot retrieve them myself.]” I gave him a look.

“So, you mean to tell me, that somehow, you cannot _pull yourself together?_ ” Doctor frowned at me and muttered something too low for me to hear, but I knew it concerned Sans somehow.

“[As a monster, I lack the ability to use DETERMINATION to piece my SOUL back together… Perhaps, if you could gather the pieces for me, I may be able to return to my true form and take back control of the Time Line. I can stop the endless cycles, but I cannot do it alone.]” I looked at Doctor with a frown.

“Well, if that’s all I need to do to stop this nonsense, then I’m in… uh. Where are the pieces of your SOUL anyhow?” Doctor waved his hand in front of him and a small white sliver appeared in front of him.

“[There are ten pieces in total. One piece is at the Core where I ‘died’. Another is held by Chara themselves. One piece is held within a room in Waterfall only accessible when time fractures minutely. I can get us into that room as I am now. There is an echo left in Waterfall that takes the form of ‘Monster Kid’ and three strange monsters echoes in the Core...The last two missing pieces are with my sons. The Time Loop itself scattered the pieces equally in a sort of… echo. My presence pulls the echo into its full entity, so together we will be able to settle this once and for all… unfortunately, retrieving the pieces is incredibly destructive to living SOULs, as you are literally extracting a part of the host SOUL… it is an unfortunate bit of luck that Chara wishes to do a Genocide run. It means that when my sons… die, you can just grab the piece and go. I am sorry to ask such a difficult task of you, Tumble.]” my heart felt fragile and heavy all at once. _I’ll have to watch everyone die to get this done? B-But! I can’t! I can’t! I—I have to._

“You’ll RESET the time line so everyone is alive again, right? It… it won’t really _count_?” I desperately grabbed for some reason not to cry.

“[Of course not, child… Everything will be alright. Come here, Tumble.]” I moved forward and was swept into a hug. Doctor seemed oddly soft… in a doughy kind of way and he was kind of warm. I tried not to think about what I’ll have to do… _just watch as Chara makes Frisk murder everyone I’ve grown to care about_. _Don’t worry, baby. Tumble will fix this whole god damn mess. I promise_. I failed to keep from crying completely, but I did stop myself from going into absolute hysterics. I pulled away and tried to put on a brave face.

“Alrighty then, let’s go follow a psychopath possessing my little Agender Cherub and collect what’s left of your personality.” Doctor smacked the back of my head and I laughed a little. If it sounded more like a sob, he never said anything about it.

\-- _But no one came—_

Since we were in a strange pseudo-land, we didn’t have to worry about typical danger. Doctor seemed to steer me away from piles of dust that keep on appearing, but I didn’t want to question it too much. I briefly wondered if this ‘Time Zone’ was a condensed mirror of some sort, but then my brain began to hurt at the theoretical science behind such a thought, so I stopped. Even in this warped reality, the Ruins seemed oddly quiet. _It was as though everyone was gone_. We hadn’t even managed to catch sight of Chara yet, which was disconcerting. I was a little curious as to how this was Genocide if there wasn’t any blood to be seen, but the thought made my stomach churn so I stopped that line of thought.

When we got to Mom’s house I was convinced that Chara had been long gone. _But I was so incredibly wrong_. There, in the basement passage to the rest of the underground, was Chara in battle with Mom. I was frozen in shock as Chara darted forward and drove a knife across Mom’s chest. Mom collapsed in shock.

“So… you really hate me that much? SI see now that I wasn’t protecting you by keeping you here. _I was protecting them!_ ” and then she dissolved into _dust_. It suddenly made so much sense. _That’s the reason there wasn’t any blood… monsters aren’t made of blood like humans. They’re made of magic and dust_. I collapsed, Doctor barely managing to catch me in time, and started crying. Chara didn’t even step over the pile of dust. _They just kicked right through Mom’s remains before looking back and smiling widely as though they knew I was there._ I was suddenly very much aware of how real this was. _It didn’t matter that a RESET could undo their deaths, **I T S T I L L M A T T E R S**_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here it is! E N J O Y
> 
> The notes and sheer hope that everything will end well has filled me with EVIL LAUGHTER.


	30. Rest in Piece: The Angst Continues

Doctor ran his fingers through my hair as I sobbed into his shoulder. _It matters. IT FUCKING MATTERS._ I let my emotions crash through me as the sound of glass creaking under pressure seemed to echo in my ears. _Oh god, Mom! And Frisk, my p-poor baby! How many times has Chara made them go through this? And how many times has the entire underground been decimated by A FUCKING DEMONIC ENTITY POSSESSING MY BABY?!_

“[T-Tumble, it will be alright! We can undo all of this, but you must PERSEVERE. I know it hurts, but you cannot let it crush you so thoroughly. It’s what Chara wants! Please Tumble, you’re only hurting yourself!]” Doctor seemed frantic as he tried to bring me back from my emotional collapse. Doctor brought a hand to my chest and I felt my SOUL pop out of my chest. I was startled enough to look at it. _Oh._ There, at the junction on top of the SOUL, was small hairline cracks, “[I know you love Frisk and Toriel, as well as everyone in the underground. I know you feel deeply for their plight, but allowing your emotions to destroy you has consequences. Your SOUL will heal soon enough, but you can’t allow yourself to give into depression so quickly. Too much pressure too fast and… your SOUL will shatter. It will be alright, Tumble. You’ve carried heavy burdens on your own for a very long time, so your SOUL is very resilient, but you must PERSEVERE a little longer.]” I nodded my head and pulled myself back together.

“Alright, thank you, Doctor… I guess we should go catch up with the demonic little shit.” I said with a watery smile. Doctor smiled wanly at me and helped me up. He slung an arm around my shoulder and gently steered me around Mom’s dust. I barely glimpsed purple fabric under the white pile of dust. We both walked through the doorway and out into the cold snow… though, the cold seemed more like standing next to a really good fridge than actually out in winter weather. We walked over the broken branch in the path and I could hear a voice up ahead.

“—T U R N A R O U N D A N D S H A K E M Y H A N D--!” I pulled Doctor faster… _but it was too late_.

**“I’d rather say goodbye. It was _knife_ to meet you.”** Doctor covered my eyes with his fingers and all I glimpsed was a dash of blue and a sea of white. It was a very long time before Doctor let me see again. By then Chara was gone and all that was left of Sans was a blue jacket and a pile of dust. I reached down to grab the jacket but my fingers slipped through.

“[In this… world, we cannot interact with physical objects… I s-suppose, to retrieve the SOUL piece, you should… reach out.]” Doctor’s voice was solemn as I looked down at my hands as they blurred through tears. _I can’t even get Sans’ jacket, but he expects me to grab a part of his SOUL?!_ I felt a wave of anger rush through me and a familiar feeling of DETERMINATION overtook me. I reached out resolutely and _grabbed_ Sans’ jacket. I felt the comforting material and gasped as a small white shape glittered above the scruff. It was Doctor’s SOUL piece, though it looked kind of like a right triangle.

“H-Hey, Doctor, think this is your sense of humor?” I expected a smack but Doctor just ruffled my hair.

“[I didn’t expect you to be able to turn your SOUL red for a moment… I suppose there are still wonders to be found about the human SOUL… Let us go, Tumble. The journey may not be easy, but it will be the last time anyone has to die in Genocide…]” Doctor ushered me forward as I put on Sans’ jacket and zipped it up, the SOUL piece stuck to the inside so I could protect it.

“Why can’t I give the piece to you now?” Doctor looked at me and hummed.

“[I don’t know how the SOUL pieces will react if you try and put them together with mine before all the pieces are together. It’s best to not test that out of curiosity if we wish to keep this Genocide to the last.]” I nodded and smiled wistfully, wishing the familiar scent the jacket exuded wasn’t tainted with the smell of dust…

\--There will always be a hole in our lives where a loved one once stood—

I was numb as I walked through the eerily quiet areas where monsters once were. Not even Frosty was spared. _But no one came_. The phrase echoed hauntingly in my head as we walked past untouched puzzles. _Did Chara already kill Papy? No… Doctor would have said something if that was the case._ The SOUL piece was mostly silent, though occasionally it would shudder over where my heart was. I didn’t know if it was important that it be kept warm, but since Doctor didn’t say anything about it, I assume it was alright. _A little weird in retrospection_ … _I think I’ll stop thinking about that now._

By the time we entered Snowdin, it was deathly quiet. I didn’t even notice that I couldn’t see the sparkly save points anymore. I tried not to think of why that must be. We continued moving on through. _At this rate we’ll get all the way through the underground in less than a day._ At the outside edge of town there was a familiar shell of armor and a red scarf covered in dust. _Too late again…_ I quickly tried to think about how everything would be alright (It will be alright… I am filled with DETERMINATION. I can PERSEVERE) as I grabbed Papy’s scarf and wound it around my neck, the SOUL piece nearly identical to the one in Sans’ jacket. This one rested against my neck. I grabbed Doctor’s hand and we moved on without a word. If I were to say something about the SOUL piece, I would likely say ‘ _And this piece must be your Cinnamon Roll part. Kind of surprised you’d have one…_ ’

But I couldn’t find it in me to say anything. Not with the scent of dust wrapped around me and the sound of silence nearly deafening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so no one ever has a good time in Genocide but Chara. Just an FYI... also, I can't tell if I write angst very well as this is kind of a first for me, so I kind of have to just throw more stuff at the wall and hope it sticks. Good news is that Genocide Run is way faster than True Pacifist, and Tumble and 'Doctor' aren't there to wipe out an entire species, but pick up small bits of SOUL. Hah, and you guys thought this could be done and over with, without a RESET at least once. Let's hope Tumble and 'Doctor' don't fuck up and have to go through this again.
> 
> The concept of a SOUL shattering is actually from another fanfic I read and really liked. Reader/Sans though, so at your own peril and such. "A Tale of Dog and Monster" by Voice_of_Mischief on this very website.
> 
> So... uh, Enjoy.


	31. Make Sure Not to Leave Anything Behind When You Go

I let Doctor guide me around to where the two SOUL pieces of him were in Waterfall. The doorway he spoke about flickered into existence in a seemingly empty stretch of wall. The inside was fucking trippy as hell. I found it really easy to pull a small shard from the void of gray-scale swirls of colors. I gave him a long look. He narrowed his eyes at me and frowned.

            “[Don’t.]” I let out a huff. _This must be the WTF part of your personality._ I thought snidely as we continued. A thought occurred to me.

            “Hey, Doctor, why were you surprised when my SOUL flashed red?” I looked over at him in curiosity as we continued along the way.

            “[I personally didn’t do much research into SOULs, but I have watch Dr. Alphys’ work in progress. She discovered that the intensity of the glow was an indication of strength. Of DETERMINATION itself. But a red SOUL is special, since it is comprised entirely of DETERMINATION. Your SOULs natural color is purple… or rather, violet upon reflection, which means PERSEVERENCE. The nature of this soul is quite curious in itself, since at first, the two words seem nearly identical. But there is a difference. Can you find it?]” I hummed in consideration. _Word play, huh?_

            “Well… if I had to say for certain, I think the difference between the two is _movement_.” Doctor tilted his head for me to continue, “Frisk is DETERMINED, so they refuse to stop moving forward, whereas I have PERSEVERENCE. I can stop _moving forward_ in order to look at my situation. Frisk is really good at thinking on their feet, that’s not to say I’m not, but they have to be. They rush into situations sometimes without thought, where I have had to think about how to go about something. Frisk will keep going without stopping, even if they mess up, until they literally can’t move any longer. The colors make sense, if what I learned in the battle with Omega Flowey has any weight to it.” Doctor smiled as we reached a dark and thick grassy area.

There was a gray-scale Monster Kid. He looked at me with empty eyes.

            _“Do you know what it’s like to see a different timeline? One where you never existed, but nothing changed?... It may be for the best if you just forgot about me.”_ I snorted and put a hand over Not-Monster Kid’s head.

            “This must be your emo part…” I ducked out the way of Doctor’s hand before he could smack me or ruffle my hair. We walked through the silence of Waterfall past the occasional pile of dust.

            “[The reason I was so surprised was because you literally changed _who_ you were for a short amount of time. It is evident with Flowey, or rather, Asriel, fv that your consciousness can successfully exist without the SOUL, but something very important is missing. Your emotions. Everything that drives you. Without them, you lose how to have empathy and become empty. With Chara, the problem is not as clear. Their SOUL seems… very patchwork, so perhaps there is an emotional barrier there, but their mind… I have a very hard time believing that King Asgore and Queen Toriel could have raised a child so... murderous.]” Doctor looked around him for a moment.

            “You know, we have stories about people who come back from the dead on the surface. Rarely ever do they come back… _right_. Vampires, zombies, and ghouls. They all have something in common. They prey on the living. Vampires are often viewed as seductive and SOUL-less. They even burn in the sunlight most of the time. They have the ability to turn living people into vampires like them and drink blood for sustenance. Zombies are reanimated corpses that eat the flesh of the living and the dead and can turn a human into a zombie with a single bite. Ghouls, on the other hand, are just one name for angry spirits that can’t rest. They plague the living, sometimes in the form of small pranks, and more often in the form of deadly pranks. They’re also incorporeal. So they have to get creative in luring people to their dooms. These aren’t the only examples, of course, but they’re the most well known.” Doctor looked down at me a little disturbed.

The old turtle guy was still alive, somehow, but I don’t think that’s because Chara felt MERCY-ful.

“[Humans are… oddly creative. It would make sense though. Even with all the magical research and science in the underground, some things will always remain beyond us… What do you suppose went wrong with Chara?]” I didn’t want to try and… _humanize_ Chara after what they did, but it was a fair question.

When we came up to the area where Undyne challenged me and I ran because of fucking MERCY—and shit—Chara had clearly been there already.

            There, in a disturbing pile of red and blue goop, was what was left of Undyne. I could faintly hear whispered words.

            “I…. refuse to die.” I quickly looked away. _That’s right… monsters don’t have the physical body to properly handle DETERMINATION… Oh, Undyne…_ I gripped Doctor’s hand tightly and walked forward. I wiped away a few tears that slipped through. _I will SAVE all of you, I promise_. We were now in Hotlands. I pointedly ignored the hot dog stand Sans worked at, though Doctor swept a free hand over my back comfortingly. I took a deep breath and began theorizing about what the fuck was wrong with Chara.

            “Well… I watched those tapes with Chara in them. They never spoke loud enough for me to actually hear their voice, but I recall them talking with Asriel. Asriel mentioned how they accidentally made Asgore sick by mistaking a recipe of ‘two cups of butter’ with ‘two buttercups’. They laughed. It is a pretty silly mistake, but considering Asgore’s size, those flowers must be really poisonous for only two of them to lay him out. It seems a little inappropriate to laugh when your adoptive father figure gets so sick like that. Then they had Asriel turn off the recorder to talk about something. Considering the context, and what I assume happened shortly afterwards considering what the next tape was about, Chara chose to poison themselves. _They purposefully chose to die so that Asriel could take their SOUL and cross the Barrier_.” I let that sink in before continuing.

            “This could mean a few things. First off, on one end, it means that Chara wanted Asriel to see the surface. A possibility for this is that they wanted Asriel to take the needed SOULs from the village. This is an indicator of a very gray morality. Is it wrong to kill people to take their SOULs if it’s to free an entire race from imprisonment? But from what Asriel mentioned, Chara wanted _everyone_ dead. That they hated humanity for some reason. It’s entirely possible that Chara did hate all of humanity but only wanted to free the underground. Death changes people, Doctor… so… maybe death changed Chara too?” It left a foul taste in my mouth that Chara may be at least a little innocent from all this. We walked through Alphys’s lab and into the Core.

            “[This is all just a theory, Tumble. It is very likely that you will never have the full answers needed to really _know_. Do not let yourself feel badly. In the end, Chara made a choice. How much that choice changed them, is entirely unknown at this point.]” I let out a conflicted whine.

            “But still… Chara was a _child too…_ ” I let that sentence hang in the air. We didn’t talk much after that point.

            On the way to the center of the Core, we came across each one of the Echo Monsters. They were slightly creepy and talked about Doctor. _I… uh, guess these are the self-aware parts?_ The largest one was even aware enough to give a wide smile.

            _“So, your finally pulling yourself back together again?”_ I suppressed a shudder as I ushered the different pieces into Sans’ jacket, even the one that clung to Papy’s scarf. Now there were only two pieces left to get. The area where Doctor fell into the Core was in a locked room with a well-like structure in the middle. I couldn’t see the bottom but a small glimmer of white slowly floated up anyway.

            “[The well acts as a funnel for magic which goes into the engine which converts heat and magic into energy for the entire underground. The only issue is that it cannot get overheated, which is what the ice from Snowdin is used for.]” I looked over at him and sighed. _Yeah. This monster science shit still breaks my mind._ I reached out and let myself fill up to the brim with DETERMINATION. I heard a slightly cracking sound as the SOUL piece shot up to me. I ignored it and turned back to Doctor.

            “Hey, I think this is your asshole part. See? It even looks kind of like an ass…” I was so busy admiring the SOUL splinter that seemed to the bottom part of his SOUL that I forgot to dodge his smack. I rubbed the back of my head. “For a guy with such a _holy_ -touch, your smacks kind of hurt…” I did dodge the next one though.

            “[Just put the SOUL piece up already.]” Doctor said irritably as I opened my jacket and did so.

            “Well, looks like we’re almost through… just one more left. I hope we’re not too late.” We pushed through and came to the arena where Mettaton battled me. All that was left was shattered pieces of machinery. Not even Alphys was there… _Is she dead too?_ I turned away from that thought quickly.

            Gray-scale world still looks depressing, even when everything seems to be warping slightly. We made our way through until we hit the golden hallway. The Judgement Hall. Before we could enter I felt the entire world buckle. I was nearly knocked onto my ass and my head began to swim.

            “[Tumble! It is alright, this is what it feels like when the time line goes back. This is a RE-LOAD… but why would Chara be RE-LOADing?]” we shot into the corridor to see what was going on. I had never been so shocked in my entire life.

_What was he doing here?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! So, here it is!
> 
> None of you bitches will every guess who the fuck is there to meet Chara. NONE... Well, if you can guess correctly before I post the next chapter, i'll mention your name or something, but this upcoming scene is inspired by a dream my beta had about the Judgment Hall. It was epic, so I just couldn't NOT use it.
> 
> Also, foreshadowing is here so much in this chapter.
> 
> Fun question, if Tumble was a monster--like a AU swap where Frisk and Tumble are monsters-- what kind of monster or animal based monster (like Doggo, Lesser Dog, and Greater Dog) would Tumble be? I'd like to personally think something like a fox or fox-griffin hybrid, or even a wolf. I don't know enough about the entire animal kingdom to pin down an animal known for fucking sass, ya know? I'd like to say a bird of some kind but... uh, yeah, I don't know jack about birds, so there!
> 
> I also really appreciate the Tumble Boss Battle suggestion from the onion (we--or rather--I know what your avatar is, but my beta does not and thinks you're an onion and it just stuck. Sorry Heroshand). I didn't originally plan on a Tumble Boss Battle so to speak, but the idea... it's growing on me a little. We shall see *cue evil laughter from the Matrix*
> 
> E N J O Y


	32. Dreams do Come True

I felt Doctor flinch back in surprise as shock poured through me.

            “How?” I asked softly, not bothering to brush my tears away as they steadily fell.

            There, up ahead, was Sans. He was wearing his jacket all the way up to his chin, his left eye steadily glowing a cyan blue. He seemed to be pissed. Chara was leaning against a column for support. They seemed pretty pissed too.

            “sorry ‘bout that, C H A R A… i just saw your face and…” he paused meaningfully as a giant skull, sort of like a dragon skull, phased into existence behind him.

 **“Heh… I kill you early, and you still manage to show up here. I guess this really is fate…”** Doctor jerked back to reality at that.

“[Ah… I suppose it was a little silly to think that since Chara could push you into this zone, so to speak, that they could also successfully merge the two Sans of both this timeline and yours.]” _Oh, well if it’s just an **amateur mistake…**_

“so… what’d ja do with tumble?” Sans asked almost nonchalantly, though there was an edge in his voice I never heard before.

 **“Oh… they’re around here, somewhere, I’m sure…”** Sans nodded in consideration.

“heh… well, for old times sake, i guess i can repeat the line… _The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing… on days like these… kids like you, should be B U R N I N G I N H E L L.”_ I had never seen a battle from the outside, but I could tell from their posture that they were almost in a world of their own. I didn’t see the black void or notice any lack of gravity, but Chara moved remarkably swift as they swung a knife through the air. My heart stopped as Sans stepped to the side and continued side stepping Chara’s aggressive swipes as though he was merely happening to move at the right time. “heh. you should know better than to think that you could hit me just yet, chara… usually, i’d be asking if there was a chance we could put this genocide behind us, but we both know you’ll never stop. how many times will you die, do you think?” Sans lifted his arm and a cyan blue glow surrounded Chara. Their red SOUL turned blue as they were flung around and onto piles of bones. Most of which were barely avoided. _They seem to have done this before… those movements seemed choreographed._

I wanted to run and stop this so badly, but I knew there was nothing I could do in this mirrored world. Besides, I know that distractions can be fatal… _but that’s Sans… by big brother… and my baby, Frisk. They shouldn’t be fighting!_ A large hum filled the air as a blast of light narrowly missed Chara. Blast after blast, bone after bone. _When will this end?!_

**_Can you save them?_ **

I wanted to stop this, but no amount of DETERMINATION could pull apart the veil separating me from the two battling. Chara swung and missed yet again. It was Sans’ turn. He looked over to the side, his skull drenched in sweat.

“heh… takes a lot of effort to pull a Gaster Blaster outside of battle… I guess, you’ll just have to go through my **special move** sooner than usual…” Sans looked down, cyan tears falling out of his empty eye sockets, “we both know how this ends… but i suppose a guy can dream, can’t he?” his eyes closed (still really weird to look at) and his head began to jerk. _He was falling asleep!_ I shook as I tried again and again to reach Sans. _DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING FALL ASLEEP, YOU ASSHOLE! Don’t do this to me!_

“…Please, don’t do this to me again!” I said desperately as Chara began to struggle from their frozen state. I turned to Doctor. “Your SOUL, we can fix this, right?!”

“[We need one last piece… I had hoped to catch Chara’s piece before a RE-LOAD but… I am sorry, Tumble.]” Doctor wrapped an arm around me and looked down as tears dripped down his face.

“I’m so sorry Tumble…” I looked back in shock as Sans finally fell asleep. Chara twitched, like they were on a sugar high, before they could finally move. They grinned and silently dashed forward, the knife slicing Sans’ jacket. Sans jerked awake in surprise and clutched his chest. His eyes flickered as red seeped down his jawbone. He looked off in the distance and began to walk away. “whelp… i’m going to grillby’s… want anything, paps? tumble?”

Suddenly, a heavy humming filled the room as Sans spun back towards Chara, his bony hand pulling the zipper of his jacket down with a flourish. There, seemingly undisturbed by the previous attack, was the words _‘I has ben to TemTem Village’_ slightly lopsided. He moved his jaw and a small plastic ketchup packet poked out from his mouth.

SON OF A BITCH, HE FINALLY WORE IT! _THE FUCKING TEMMIE ARMOR!_

The Gaster Blasters lit up the room with a wave of energy. I took the moment to dash over and grab the SOUL sliver, just as it separated from the shattered red SOUL of Chara/Frisk. I wanted so badly to be there with Sans, my body filling up with DETERMINATION as the SOUL pieces came together under my jacket, even the piece I just retrieved. I turned to give Doctor his SOUL back when the world shook and something unexpected happened. _I fell through into the RE-LOAD._

\--Better safe than sorry--

I was just behind a column as Chara angrily stomped up to Sans.

 **“What the hell was that, Sans?!”** before Sans could even reply I jerkily moved to stand in the light, my legs still not fully recovered from the jump. The world looked a hell of a lot better in its normal form, that’s for sure.

“Temmie Armor… bitch.” I glared at Chara challengingly before glancing back at Sans. His shocked expression was priceless. “You ever do that to me again and I _will make sure you don’t come back_.” his eyes moved from my face and twisted painfully at the sight of Papy’s scarf and his jacket, or rather, this time line’s version of his jacket. Both of which were still lightly powdered with dust. The empty ketchup packet fell to the floor as Sans absently licked up the ketchup in a flash of cyan blue. _SINCE WHEN DID HE HAVE A FUCKING TONGUE?! FUCK, FOCUS, TUMBLE. FOCUS._

“T-Tumble…” I opened my mouth to reply but instead dodged out of the way of Chara’s knife. I looked back at Chara with condescension.

“Oh, I know I raised Frisk better than that, Chara.” I glanced towards Sans, “I guess we’ll have to put our chat back a l-little, S-Sans.” I took a deep breath to gather myself, “I need to _discipline_ someone first.” Chara sneered at me.

 **“I thought I put you to the _side_ , Tumble. How are you going to learn to play nice if you’re involved?”** I snorted at that.

“Oh, I don’t have a problem playing nice…” my brain whirred as I tried to think of how to get out of this. I didn’t want to fight Frisk, Chara possession or no, but it looks like I didn’t have a choice… _unless…_ “You know, Chara, I’ve been thinking quite a bit… for someone so glad for a change of pace, you sure don’t take advantage of it.” Chara narrowed their eyes at me and tried to stab me again. I danced out of the way. _I just need to buy time_. “I mean, if you _really_ wanted to try something new, you would have possessed me. I get that Frisk is basically a classic at this point—“ I moved to the side again as Chara became more agitated, “But my stats are already _really high_. If you really wanted to fuck people up in Genocide, you would have used me instead… _unless_ , _you can’t._ ”

This time, Chara aimed for my head. _Someone’s a little touchy_. I moved back a little and grabbed their wrist, twisting it just so, and the knife fell out of their grip and to the floor. They swung desperately with their other hand and I let go, making sure to kick the knife over to Sans, who quickly decimated the knife into nothing with a flash of cyan blue.

 **“Shut the hell up!”** I snorted at that as I began to dodge every pathetic swing Chara threw at me and occasionally pushing them back and away from Sans.

“At first, I thought I was being silly. _Of course Chara can possess me_ … but then I realized something. The only real difference between Frisk and I, are our SOULs. Let me guess, you never possessed the other people that fell down here, did you? I mean, wow, that’s six different people in almost a thousand years. _But their SOULs were every color but red, weren’t they? That’s the color of yours…_ ”

 **“I WILL KILL YOU! THEN RELOAD AND KILL YOU AGAIN!”** I chuckled. _Too easy._

“Well, then you’ll just miss out on a golden—or rather— _red_ opportunity. Come on Chara, I know you can access at least some of Frisk’s memories. _How did I teach them their colors?_ ” I struck out, sending Chara onto their back before pinning them down, “ _Red is the color of blood. It’s the color of pain and danger in the present._ We both know now that red can mean something else too, DETERMINATION. _Blue is the color of the sky, as well as the veins in our bodies. It is the color of freedom and safety. The blood is inside our bodies. Ma and Pa haven’t cut us in some time_. We also know that, depending on the shade, blue can also mean PATIENCE or INTEGRITY. Now, I have a question for you, Chara… _how do you make purple?_ ” I grinned down at Chara as their red eyes widened in surprise.

 **“With blue and red…”** I nodded and hummed happily as I forced my SOUL out of my chest. It seemed to be oddly steady as I slowly let it bleed out into red.

“That’s right. _Purple is the color of bruises. It’s danger of the recent past, but will go away with time…_ so, I have an offer. Take possession of _me_ and leave Frisk alone.” They looked up into my eyes with surprise. Most of my SOUL was red at this point, except for a small blue heart in the center.

 **“Why would you do that? You know what I will use your body for…”** I took a deep breath and answered.

“Because I promised I would be there, no matter what, Frisk… my baby.”

“Tumble! don’t do it!” my SOUL turned blue as Sans pulled me back and locked his arms around me. Chara got up and began laughing. It was the spine chilling laugh I heard in my dreams as a bell tolled in the distance.

 **“Hehehehe…. You’ve got a deal.”** Frisk’s SOUL shook as the patchwork pieces of red lifted away and fire swept around us. Sans growled and I cut him off with an elbow to the stomach. Despite not having an actual gut, Sans pulled back his arms and wheezed. My SOUL returned to the shade of red as the fiery cloud above me shot down and pierced me.

“TUMBLE, NO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here are the results!
> 
> The people who at least guessed mostly correctly are: Heroshand (onion), and as a hopeful wish come true we have Glitch and SolemnlySociopathic. Congrats guys.
> 
> Ha, so I can't wait to see your reaction to this chapter, not to mention the shit that goes down in the NEXT ONE.
> 
> Also, I accidentally forgot a line of dialogue in the last chapter between Tumble and 'Doctor'. You can reread the bit where they're at the Core, but the summary of it is this:
> 
> "Ah... This must be your asshole part. See, even kind of looks like an ass!" I didn't manage to avoid the smack this time, "For a guy with such a /holy/-touch, your smack kind of hurt." didn't manage to avoid that one either.
> 
>  
> 
> Aaannndd, that's the gist. I've been looking forward to writing that bit for a while now, and what do I do? FUCKING FORGET IT?!
> 
> Also, really guys? You want some crack-filled shit. Fucking Jerry and Burgerpants, I mean really?! One: fuck Jerry. Two: Burgerpants has a minimum wage job that he can't even take a vacation from to DIE, what makes you think he could take a break to kick Chara ass? I might make a little oneshot about how those two would go down though. Also, it's definitely not MK. By the way, about the gray monster echo things in the previous chapter, it's actually a reference to what you can find (not SOUL bits) if you mess with the coding. They're all believed to be allusions to Gaster (The Core bit also does not exist to my knowledge). You can see them on Youtube videos where people accidentally found them. The MK lookalike is called 'Goner Kid'. You can even find the door in Waterfall.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy yourselves, cause I am.


	33. Different Denotes Neither Bad Nor Good, But it Certainly Means Not the Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those tags will be getting a workout. Make sure to check if you have... sensitivities.
> 
> Also, when you get to the stats, my Beta suggested playing this :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=069NTM9whuU

Sans had never actually been conscious when the timeline RESET before, so he could only assume that this is what it felt like. It was as though his body was being grinded down to its essence and spread across a stray breeze. When Tumble said that they had one last thing to do, he noticed the odd gleam in Frisk’s eyes. The fact that he could see Frisk’s eyes was worrisome in itself, though the red gleam was decidedly unnerving. So, he may have stalked Tumble through Snowdin and the Ruins.

He was incredibly surprised to see the dead child of Toriel and Asgore, Asriel. It was so like Tumble to call him ‘Little Goat Bro’.

When he opened his eyes he found himself in his room back at Snowdin, cuddling up to the other person in his bed. _Himself_. _Huh… I always wondered why my pillow ended up damp sometimes_. Apparently he drooled in his sleep. Not wanting to try and find out what would happen if he spotted himself. He also had a very bad feeling about this run. Considering what happens when Chara usually takes over, this would likely be a Genocide run. _I should try and find Tumble_.

He spent hours flicking through the empty Ruins before moving to the town. He felt a dizzying wave of memories filter through his skull. Chara killed him really early this time. ( _Paps was dead too and all he could feel was numbness, and confusion as to where the scarf went_ ). Chara was going through really fast this time, so he figured it would be best to wait in the Judgment Hall for Chara to show up. He had plenty of time to stew in his thoughts as he leaned against a column. He was so sure that Tumble would bring about the last run. _Maybe they still will, I mean, no one sees Chara coming_. _No one ever does…_

He mulled over his memories of past timelines. He had seen so many timelines with negligible differences that they were now in neat little boxes with their own sub-box if necessary. Pacifist. Genocide. Neutral. From there, unique occurrences got their own box within that box. A baby Frisk, for example, always ends in Pacifist. Well, that one time a toddler Frisk accidentally smacked a Froggit into dust and got a Neutral end, but he really couldn’t blame a four year old for that. Adult Frisk could go either way, though usually Neutral rather than Genocide. Individual bits of dialogue almost never change, so after a while, he could recite what anyone had ever said consistently with his eyes closed.

Then he considered the Genocide runs. Every time Frisk/Chara wore a creepy expression. Something about the eyes that glinted like rubies in the light. They also always ignored Paps’ puzzles. They rarely ever actually spoke, but when they did it made him feel like all hope was lost. He had faced Chara here, and he always ended up dying. That DETERMINATION always saw them through. It may have took a lot of RELOADs, but eventually Chara would slay him. The burning fury over his situation filled him with HATRED. So, it was actually a surprise when he heard Chara’s muffled footsteps and his first reaction was to use a Gaster Blaster. No words, just a burst of raw magic. The look on their face though… _Worth it_. The world shifted as Chara RELOADed and boy, were they pissed.

His non-existent stomach churned at the vague response about Tumble. _Did the demon kill Tumble off already, just to get that extra bit of EXP? No, their LV and EXP are exactly the same as every other time they came here_. He worried over Tumble, well aware of how… _unpleasant_ Chara’s attention can be. _Wherever you are, please be safe Tumble._ It was a strange sensation to have a mutual sibling bond with someone he could actually act like an older brother to. God knows he was never able to stop Paps from doing something he put his mind to. _Though using magic to physically move Tumble around may be cheating…_

From there, it was a familiar dance. He gave it his all, his mind whirring as he tried to think of a way to come out on top, just this once. Then, it hit him. _He knew what he could do_. He always had a small package of ketchup on hand, the taste a perfect pick-me-up when he felt bored at work.

It worked. It actually fucking worked. Chara’s face when he spun around and unzipped his jacket to reveal a completely unharmed chest was _priceless_. The world jerked and RELOADed once more. If Chara was pissed before, they were now easily _infuriated_. _Someone doesn’t like B A D C H A N G E._ Then the last person he expected walked out between him and Chara. _Tumble, what the hell are you doing?!_

“Temmie Armor… bitch.” Tumble seemed a little unsteady but incredibly relieved to see him. He felt his heart… his SOUL break a little bit at the sight of Tumble in a dust covered blue jacket identical to his own and Paps’ red scarf equally covered in dust. Yeah. He could remember the first few Genocide runs where he did the exact same thing. His bones creaked in sorrow at the tear-tracks down Tumble’s face. When Tumble stuttered his name he felt a painful sting go through him. Almost as painful as the sight of Tumble casually… well, not fighting really, but _playing_ with Chara. It was clear that Tumble had more experience in a fight than Chara, who only had to hit monsters to end them. He felt like he should intervene, but he could hardly stand against Chara as he was, and that was with a full night’s sleep.

_Right. How could I forget that Tumble’s shitty parents need to be shown a B A D T I M E as soon as I can track them down._ While his and Paps’ childhood was lonely, they never had to learn their colors by their own fucking injuries. When he saw Tumble knock away the knife, he didn’t hesitate to destroy the fucking dust covered knife.

Everything in him froze when Tumble offered their own body. _H E L L N O._ He didn’t even hesitate to pull Tumble back off Chara and into his arms. With any luck, he can physically restrain Tumble long enough to convince them that it was a horrible idea. _It’s bad enough that Frisk is possessed by Chara so often, I can’t handle the thought of Tumble being in the same situation as well._ He’d have to talk with Tumble about how ill-advised it was to just change their SOUL color like it’s a fashion accessory. He didn’t expect the elbow to the gut.

See, bones are rather sensitive to pressure and touch, so to protect the more sensitive bones he used magic to fill out his clothes as a secondary protective layer. It wasn’t active magic like Gaster Blasters, so he can afford to have it on at all times. To have a sharp elbow drive into the protective layer was a shock. It felt like a small shockwave went through him and he felt his pseudo-pupils blink out of existence for a moment. Even those are magic, actually, though he used it to focus his eyesight rather than the slightly-more-than 180 degree sight he had otherwise. That, and the pupils made his eye sockets not as creepy. People laugh more at his jokes when they don’t have to worry about black holes baring down on them.

“TUMBLE, NO!” _but he was too late_. A stream of fire barreled into Tumble. Frisk and Tumble both collapsed on the floor, though Frisk came to only moments later with a cry.

“Tumble! Oh god, Tumble, why?!” Frisk crawled over frantically and clutched at Paps’ scarf desperately. Before his eyes, Frisk and Tumble’s stats changed.

Frisk

LV: 1

HP: 20/20

 

(Tumble/Abomination)

LV: 19

HP: ERROR

Attack: ERROR

Defense: ERROR

He quickly pulled Frisk back as Tumble’s body jerked as though being electrocuted. Tumble’s SOUL burst out of their chest and began to tremble, a tie-dye of blue and red with dashes of violet, the turmoil creating deep cracks and fissures. From the wounds in Tumble’s SOUL, a thick and bubbly white liquid began dripping onto Tumble, quickly consuming their body in a white mess. The smell of chemicals and dust began to thicken in the room. He could see the faces of the fallen monsters in the thick drops as dying wails filled the room. He tightened his grip on Frisk and considered turning Tumble’s SOUL blue, but it was already so unstable that anymore magic could shatter it completely.

Frisk screamed as a vaguely humanoid shape shot up from the thick mess. He watched in growing horror as the white substance began to form into twice the size of Tumble. The first thing that was definable from the form was the head. It seemed to be the skull of some animal with sharp fangs almost as long as his forearms. Deep eye sockets formed on the front of the skull, identifying it as a predator rather than prey and a long, thin heart shape made the nostril hole. The jaw creaked open to reveal an equally white tongue that was thin and serpentine. It wasn’t even fully formed and Sans already felt like it was an Abomination.

“T-They… C-Chara took all the LOVE with them and now T-Tumble is—“ Frisk couldn’t bring themselves to finish the sentence and he couldn’t blame them. Tears now freely poured down his face and he stepped back further with Frisk.

The body of the abomination formed to some semi-bipedal creature that seemed starved. An exaggerated rib cage connected to a painfully bony pelvis with a middle barely round enough to obscure the spine. Spindly arms clawed harshly at its skull in agony as four claws just shorter than the fangs formed rather than fingers. A sickly looking dewclaw rested just above the slightly bulbous palm on the forearms. The legs appeared to be cat-like, if disconcertingly thin with a similar appearance to the arms and claws. A long, jointed tail smacked the floor in agitation. He wasn’t sure if it was an improvement when curly red fur began to sprout all over the Abomination’s body.

A scruff of red curly fur now acted as a collar around the neck. (He tried not to notice how it looked like a large red, snowflake). All along the spine a light dusting of curly red fur sprouted and the tail now looked like a sickly and molting rope of red curls. On the ribcage a thick patch of red curls seemed to perpetually shed. The paws had a particularly heavy dusting of red all the way up to the shoulders and pelvis.

It was, in short, a horrifying parody of a Monster.

The dark eye sockets lit up with swirls of red and blue that slowly faded into an all-encompassing red glow and the Abomination threw back its head and let out a horrific sound that chilled Sans to his SOUL and caused Frisk to cry out in fear and cling to him. It was like an all too human yowl of pain, fear, and suffering. As though someone chewed glass for a year and had alcohol poured down its throat as it was brutally shaken. As a finishing touch, a tiny heart of a red SOUL with a white outline glistened over where the stomach should be. The light catching in the many fractures in a mix of purple and white.

Then, in a flash of speed, it charged at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was suitably horrific! I planned on having this be Sans' perspective anyway since Tumble could hardly describe what they looked like at this point. So, hah, prepare for the next chapter to be inside Tumble's head and a little bit outside of it. Everything is going to be horrible, I promise.
> 
> I P I N K Y P R O M I S E...


	34. Author's Note but Please Read anyway, you may want to know this shit

Okay, so my Beta will be gone today, so my impeccable streak of updating everyday will be broken. Worry not, my readers, for they will be back tomorrow! I just thought I'd take the time to talk to you guys about a few things.

 

While I didn't intentionally reference Bleach, I get how you may be confused. Trust me, if the Amalgamates had been a different color than white, that's what the base color of Tumble's new form would be. I actually avoided the use of masks and bodily holes for that very reason. The reason this happened will be explained in the next update, but feel free to ask questions if you're confused. If you think a tag should be added that isn't already present, please do say so.

 

I'd like to say again how ecstatic I am that so many people really like what I've done so far. I also did not mean to terrify my dedicated readers who read the last update the second it came up at midnight. It was supposed to be horrifying, yes, but I didn't mean to go all Resident Evil scary on you guys.

 

Fun fact, Tumble's form is based off of the skeleton of a cat with fox influences for the teeth. Goat influences for the elongated skull to create the nose bit (and goat skulls are creepy as fuck). I also used a bit of inspiration from the North American legend about Wendigos. If you google image them, I mainly relied on the creepy ass skeletal ones. They're this mythical creature believed in by northern tribes where winters are a scary ass time of year. They're these evil spirits that used to be human (and as such bad humanistic qualities to them) and consumed human flesh. This made them into evil spirits/demons. Wendigos are so feared in these tribes that they refuse to speak their names unless in broad daylight and in the summer. It is believed that saying 'Wendigo' three times in a row (particularly in winter) will summon them.

 

You can see why tribes would be hesitant to say their names if that's the case.

 

Also, my beta thinks I spoil you guys for some reason. Considering the roller coaster ride I've put you guys through, I really don't see it, but whatever.

 

I just thought i'd update you guys on this event just in case anyone starts to freak out on me.

 

Just stay DETERMINED. I will be back to updating soon!


	35. Nevermore Nevermore, Qouth the Raven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: MURDER VERY MUCH EVIDENT.
> 
> Beta recommends Nox Arcana Soul Stealer for the internal battle inside Tumble.

Small crackles of energy zipped by me as my eyes shot open. I seemed to be inside a void of red and blue with small arcs of purple. White spider webbing cracks seemed to make up a sort of floor. Beneath that was a disturbing view of what hell must look like. Between white lines were the colorless faces of nearly every monster in the underground. They all looked like they were crying out, though I couldn’t hear their words. _Jesus fucking Christ! Is this what your SOUL looks like if you kill a monster?!_

**“No… changing your SOUL to accommodate me made it unstable. All that EXP and LOVE couldn’t properly be absorbed. You currently look like a… well, what humans believe monsters to be on the outside. This is your SOUL. I have to admit, I didn’t expect to have such trouble taking control, but I guess the desperate monster SOULs aren’t very willing to stay within a M U R D E R E R.”** I looked behind me sharply to see… Frisk?

Well, they looked an awful lot like Frisk, but their hair was lighter. Their eyes were black holes that contrasted sharply against the pale skin with bright red cheeks and a twisted smile. Their sweater was also green and yellow striped. Their nose was a bit more button like and their face didn’t have as much baby fat as well.

“The hell are you talking about, Chara?” I tried not to look down. It was too disconcerting to see all those empty faces.

**“Why, you, of course. I get it. I mean, I was in a similar situation before I was thrown into the underground.”** Chara shook their head mockingly, **“They just had to go… But monsters have such an idyllic view on life. They’d never understand such a heinous act for the good of one rather than the entire race.”** I narrowed my eyes at them.

“I. AM. NOT. A. MURDERER, Chara.” I said firmly as a strange sensation trickled down my back.

**“Well, naturally you don’t remember. I guess that’s _one_ difference between us…” ** Chara tilted their head to the side and grinned, **“How about I _show you?_ ”** the world faded around us as I felt like I was falling through space.

\--What is a lie of the mind, but a memory? Memories fade over time. They change. They no longer reflect the truth.—

Sans pulled Frisk to the side as the Abomination ran straight into a column. It tangled itself up into a ball of limbs and claws and twitched around in pain. He felt the air grow colder as he heard it. Tumble’s voice whimpering from within.

**_“It’s not real! It’s not real! I-I couldn’t have! I WOULDN’T!”_** if Tumble was to say anything else it was cut off by a horrific mix of painful cries and chilling laughter. He could hear the SOUL beginning to crack a little more.

“TUMBLE! Please, stop this! You’re only hurting yourself!” Frisk cried out as they managed to wiggle out of his grasp and embrace the Abomination around the middle. The creature froze as Sans felt everything in him shake. _Frisk, no!_

\--When the entire world claims you’re a monster, how do you react? If you give in, the pressure will crush you. If you push back, they were right all along.—

I found myself looking at my fourteen year old self in the foyer of my home. The dingy carpet and old paneling no different from four years ago. I was shorter then, my hair chopped messily around my shoulders. The stained white t shirt was a little too big. I couldn’t remember ever getting to wear regular shirts before. They were too easy to rip into bandages to be wasted as clothing.

I seemed to be cowering against a wall as the darkened figures of my parents closed in. No, that wasn’t right, I was _covering_ something against the wall with my body. _It was a four-year old Frisk_. They were bloody and bruised, even more so than myself. _Did I leave Frisk alone with them?_ No. It can’t be. I was so afraid back then, I never would have chanced it. _They were so small back then…_

I noticed the unreal gleam of a knife at my feet as the large figure of my Pa moved forward with his fist high in the air. My younger self—REMEMBER, IT’S NOT YOU TUMBLE—picked up the knife in a flash and shoved it forward. Right into his chest. Pa seemed to jerk back and collapse to the ground, quickly bleeding out.

I heard a distorted scream as Ma moved forward hysterically. Arms flailing around. A smooth arc of a knife cut her throat. I collapsed in sync with Ma as I began to shake.

“No! NO! NO! **_It’s not real! It’s not real! I-I couldn’t have! I WOULDN’T!_** NOT IN FRONT OF FRISK! NEVER!” Chara entered the distorted memory and laughed.

**“Haha! Of all the things to deny, it’s that you wouldn’t do that in front of Frisk? Really?”** they shook their head mockingly, **“That’s hardly the point here, _M U R D E R E R…_ You’re hardly deserving of happiness after doing that to your own parents.”** Something about that phrasing struck me, even in my shocked state, but I couldn’t focus over the roaring in my ears. It was the monster’s voices.

“You were our hope! Our future! **_How could you?!_** ” Chara flinched at their intensity but didn’t move. The crowd’s roar became louder and louder until all I could seem to hear was the sound of static as everything grew dark again.

\--The pressure of perfection can break even the hardest of hearts—

Frisk clutched their arms around the broken SOUL of their older sibling and every monster Chara had slain. Tears fell down in rivulets as their hands moved up and down the painfully obvious spine.

“I-It’s okay, Tumble, I swear! You’re going to be okay!” a shaking limb lifted and gently wrapped around Frisk. Sans was frozen in fear, his bones almost clattering against each other like a bony wind-chime. The deadly claws were so close to Frisk. _One wrong move and Frisk will be shredded!_

A high keen seemed to echo in the Abomination’s skull as the red snowflake collar seemed to loosen into a mane of red curls. The red voids in the eye sockets were tinted blue as an opalescent liquid ran down the skull and dripped off the fangs like venom.

“My child, Tumble is not here.” The world seemed to come to a screeching halt as the familiar, if echoic, voice of Toriel came from within. Frisk began to sob harder.

“IT IS ALRIGHT, HUMAN CHILD! YOUR OLDER SIBLING LOVES YOU VERY MUCH, BUT CHARA IS NOT A FORCE WE CAN FIGHT ON OUR OWN! AS LONG AS TUMBLE HOLDS ON, WE REMAIN IN CONTROL!” It was Paps’ voice now. Frisk felt their sins crawling on their back.

“I’m so sorry, everyone! I-If I had been stronger! If I had just been--!” but a new voice interrupted Frisk. It was Undyne this time.

“Don’t worry about it, punk! We may have been confused at first, but while we’re in Tumble’s SOUL like this, we know everything Tumble does! We know that none of this is your fault!” there was a grinding sound from within, “But this Chara punk is a dirty cheater! YO! DOCTOR! DON’T YOU HAVE A SOUL TO COMPLETE?!”

“yeah, ‘doctor’, stop being such a _lazy bones._ pft.” It was a little unnerving to hear his own voice from within the Abomination as a white light separated from the red SOUL. There, with just a small piece missing from the middle, was a monster SOUL. As it occurred to Sans that he had no idea who the hell ‘Doctor’ was, the SOUL began to spin like a top before disappearing.

“SANS! NOW IS NOT THE TIME!—WAIT, IF TUMBLE IS OTHER-ME’S LITTLE SIBLING, DOES THAT MAKE FRISK MY YOUNGEST SIBLING?! NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE AN AMAZING OLDER SIBLING!”

“yeah, the coolest… hey, other me. you won’t believe who tumble ran into… eh, you’ll see in a bit, the most important thing is that we’ll all have to make sure tumble knows they’re not alone. All of us. it’s going to be really rough if we can pull this off.” The eyes of the Abomination seemed to dim as a general noise of acceptance echoed in the voices of many.

“EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY, FRISK. OTHER SANS! WE JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON HELPING TUMBLE! WITH THE DOCTOR’S HELP WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO STOP CHARA ONCE AND FOR ALL! WHO KNOWS, MAYBE YOU’LL ACTUALLY GET A BIT OF EXERCISE IN THE MEANTIME, _LAZY BONES!_ ” Paps said before the creature went silent. _What did he mean by ‘exercise’?_ The Abomination let go of Frisk and began pushing them away as a tremor ran through them.

“[You may want to take Frisk and go Sans. Without the concentration of the monsters within, the Abomination, as it is called, is essentially a wild beast. I will see you in Snowdin.]” Sans turned around in shock. It was Gaster. His old man. He looked as pristine as he did decades ago when he was barely a baby bones. He was stopped from letting the sight of his dad sink in by the familiar and horrifying screech of the Abomination. He quickly grabbed Frisk and used a shortcut to get to Grillbys. The world blipped out of focus momentarily before solidifying.

The interior was quiet as Grillby polished a cup. They were safe, for the moment, but if the Abomination had any form of intelligence, it would probably start tracking them soon. His thoughts came to a screeching halt as the door opened up.

“[Sorry, I’m late Sans. I ran into someone along the way.]” the familiar jumble of Wingding was like a balm to his SOUL. It had been so long since he last heard it, that it was a bit surprising that he could still understand his old man. His face was still the same, those cracks still as precise as ever. It was good to know that Gaster was actually tall, rather than just younger him being so short. His black cloak obscuring all but the upper chest and neck area of his turtleneck sweater. His shoes clacking against the wooden floor as he moved to let his companion through. _Who the hell could he have possibly of run into on the way here?_

It was the _kid_ from before. Asriel. Wrapped around his arm was a green vine belonging to a golden. Flower… Flowey. Asriel looked kind and innocent while Flowey appeared to be pissed he was even here.

“what’s the _kid_ doing here?” Asriel shuffled his feet a little before Flowey beat him to the punch.

“Chara wasn’t taking their chances with Asriel not being in this timeline so he was sent back as well. _I_ wasn’t taking my chances with having myself killed so I hid Asriel before Chara could confront them. The maniac doesn’t seem to believe that Asriel is me and I am Asriel… more or less.” Yep. Definitely pissed.

“THAT’S NOT CHARA!” Asriel shouted before looking shocked at his outburst, “I-I mean, that’s not Chara… not the Chara I knew. Something’s… different. They didn’t seem to remember things right. They thought I would be unhappy with a ‘Pacifict’ ending.” the kid looked down with tears in his eyes. Sans took a deep breath and turned towards Grillby.

“i need some hot sauce for this…” Gaster made a noise of disagreement, “no, i really think i do. my old man is back from the dead, so is the royal prince, and he comes along with his demented flower persona as well. my adopted little sibling is some sort of amalgamate/Abomination hybrid of every monster that’s died so far(including myself) and is that way only because they gave up their SOUL to a long-dead human turned demon. i also now have this kid for a little sibling by proxy, so that’s another person i need to look out for. i. need. hot sauce.” Grillby reluctantly gave Sans a bottle of hot sauce—though Sans noticed it was only mild and a basically a shot of hot sauce at that. Frisk let out a huff as they beckoned Asriel over for a hug. Yeah, he wasn’t nearly drunk enough to deal with this bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, just a quick note here, my Beta returned early, so a false alarm I guess. I'll keep the authors note anyway. The bit with the monsters speaking isn't a Wendigo thing, just in case you were wondering. It's literally the monsters speaking through the Abomination. That's it. No creepy ass trick to lull them into a false sense of security.
> 
> Onion, dude, don't worry. I wasn't offended or filled with RIGHTOUS ANGER or anything. I just figured if you were reminded of Bleach that there may have been someone else who thought I was subtly doing a crossover and not mentioning it.


	36. Preheat to 450 Degrees F

I shook as denial set in. _I couldn’t have killed them! Not in front of Frisk!_ The last bit of the memory seemed to run through my head. I could still see myself pick Frisk up and put them in front of the TV to distract them. _I’d never do that! Not after what they just watched!_ I then proceeded to drag the bodies of Ma and Pa out back for the wild animals to deal with. Old Smith seemed to look on passively from a distance.

“I-I wouldn’t! I wouldn’t!” I barely noticed I was back in the colorful area with the monster faces beneath me. There was more red than blue at this point, and violet wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“psst. hey, tumble. down here.” my eyes snapped open to see a colorless Sans looking up at me.

“S-Sans? H-How?” he gave me a cheery grin and shook his head.

“chara couldn’t let go of the monster’s LOVE, so they took us when they left. besides, i’m the _other_ sans. your sans never moved to the next timeline like he was supposed to at the end of a RESET, so i don’t have his memories. but i can see yours. we all can, tumble. it’s going to be okay.” I shook my hand and reached down, lining up my hand with his. We couldn’t touch because of the spider-web cracks, but I could almost feel the warmth of his hand.

“T-Then you know! You know I… killed them! _Right in front of Frisk!_ ” Sans smiled gently at me as Toriel’s figure came from behind him and put her hand over his.

“My child, monsters can see another’s stats. They tell us the preferred name, the HP, the LV, the Attack, and the Defense of another. In the underground, the ambient magic enabled you to see it too. Try looking at it and tell us what you see.” I nodded my head and focused. Words appeared before me.

WILL TUMBLE: LV 1

HP: 275/275

ATTACK: 138 (0)

DEFENSE: 26 (0)

“I-I don’t get what you’re trying to say…”

“Look a little harder and you’ll see the EXP.” I focused and there it was. Just under my name.

EXP: 0

“S-So?”

“My child… EXP is created when you inflict pain on another by killing them. It is only by killing humans and monsters, as well as very intelligent creatures, though it is very rare, that EXP is made. EXP goes to the killer as a marking by the victim. Nothing can take it away. With enough EXP, your LOVE grows and bringing pain to another gets easier. You don’t have any EXP, Tumble. _You haven’t killed anyone_.” The realization rocked through me.

“T-Then what was that? I-I saw myself do it! I saw myself kill them!”

“well, chara’s been around in frisk for quite a few timelines, so i wouldn’t be surprised if at least _one_ _tumble_ killed those worthless humans. but… you know, even if it was _you_ , we wouldn’t care. not like chara would have you believe. what they, and i mean all of _them_ , did to you was inexcusable. it should never have happened. paps and i basically raised ourselves because our old man disappeared, so i know how hard it is. but you should not have had to deal with the feeling of _relief_ that they were gone as well. you’re not alone, tumble… you can ask for help and we’ll help you. All of us.”  I was nearly in tears as the room took on a stronger blue tint and the purple returned. _I can ask for help… it’ll be okay._

_What do you expect me to do? It’s not my problem._

San’s eyes seemed to flash blue as the voice echoed in the silence. Familiar faces came up to crowd around Sans. Undyne. Alphys. Papy. Even Mettaton.

“WE WILL HELP YOU, TUMBLE! BUT YOU HAVE TO LET US IN FIRST!”

“Yeah, darling! You can’t expect a _star_ like me to just stand back from the heat of the spotlight!”

“W-We can do this! Together! Just like the season finale of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!”

“I’ve never stepped back from a challenge, punk!” I let out a laugh and shook my head.

“Tumble… _let us help you!_ ”

“yeah, you look like you really need a _hand_.”  Sans looked at his hand meaningfully.

“SANS! NOW IS NOT THE TIME! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPPORTING TUMBLE, NOT MAKING PUNS!” I laughed harder as I heard footsteps behind me.

 **“Well, that’s very touching. But you know that the barrier is the only thing keeping them from destroying your SOUL, don’t you Tumble? Letting them in will only _destroy you_.” ** I looked around me uncertainly. **“Just like last time, Tumble. _Even if you try and forget the one time you tried to reach out… A N D N O O N E C A M E._ ”**

_Pathetic._

_They wouldn’t abandon me to my fate… right?_

_Why would I put myself out there to help **you?**_

_N-No! I can ask for help! I know I can!_

_You’re a big kid. Help yourself._

_But…_

_Stop expecting other people to solve your problems._

_…_

_No one likes a whiner._

_. . . . . . ._

\--The most cruel prison imaginable is one of our own making. Where the iron bars are made of thoughts and the cement walls of our fears.—

The Abomination let out an angry screech as its head moved from side to side, trying to find its prey. The strong red SOUL would be perfect to fill the empty void within it. The little white SOUL that took it away would make a nice snack. _W h e r e d i d t h e S O U L s g o?_

\--When you strip yourself of all your humanity, what is left, but the instinct to feed?—

Sans downed the shot of mild hot sauce and turned towards Grillby.

“ya might want to go somewhere for a while. there’s a… thing coming. and i don’t think it came here for the ‘burgs.” Grillby, for his part, seemed nonplussed about the mildly threatening statement. He tilted his head to the side and offered a sly grin, a dark red crescent of flame visible on his features.

“ _[Well, I’d hate to disappoint a potential customer…]_ ” Sans snorted.

“alright, _hot stuff_ , but don’t say i didn’t warn ya.” an eerie howl echoed outside.

“[We just need to buy time. The Abomination cannot be beaten by normal means, but if Tumble can retake control from Chara…]” Sans grinned sardonically.

“well, i’ve got quite a bit of practice in buying _time_. what about the _kid_ and the weed?” he looked over at Frisk belatedly, “you ain’t going against the Abomination, kid. don’t even think about it.” the look on Frisk’s face was filled with a challenge and DETERMINATION. Sans barely even thought about it before grabbing their shoulder and putting them in the safest place he could think of. His old man’s lab. It was essentially a locked room with no way in or out. Perfect for a wily human child. When he came back Flowey was giving Asriel a considering look.

“Wherever you put the kid, take him too. He may have his parent’s magic, but he isn’t ready for facing a creature without MERCY.” Flowey released Asriel’s arm and muttered something about kill or be killed. Sans easily moved Asriel to where Frisk was and grinned as he caught sight of Frisk, who appeared to be trying to glare the locked door into nothingness. Then he was back in Grillby’s. Just in time, because the ground shook as a bone rattling howl shook the entire building. Grillby easily jumped over the bar with a bounce in his step.

“[Careful there, old friend. Someone might think you were _excited_ to get into a fight again.]” Gaster said with a smirk. Grillby’s face went a little blue as he blushed, but shrugged his shoulders anyway. “[Sans, you’re still not fully recovered from fighting Chara, are you sure you don’t want to sit this one out?]” the way it was said suggested that Gaster didn’t actually intend to let him fight. Sans narrowed his eyes at Gaster, who pretended to look innocent at the implications of his question.

“ _[Yeah, you’re looking a bit worn down. Might even have a temperature…]_ ” Grillby feigned concern as he rested a fiery hand on Sans’ head. Sans felt his entire body flush with heat as the room seemed to tilt.

“t-that’s ‘eally lo’ g’ys…” he didn’t even have time to make a pun as he collapsed into his dad’s arms. Gaster, for his part, didn’t even look sheepish as he gently laid Sans down on booth cushion to rest peacefully. Grillby looked at Gaster with a smug grin. Gaster tried to look offended but his face did darken in a blush.

“[What? You helped! Besides, Sans only has 1 HP. I wasn’t about to let him go into a fight with the Abomination… even with the curious armor he has. He’s still just a baby bones in my eyes.]” Grillby crackled with laughter, the occasional pop only making Gaster blush harder. The building shook again and the two froze.

“[ _Well, it’s time for things to heat up~]_ ” Gaster huffed. _Sans sense of humor is practically a contagious virus by now, honestly_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so my beta says I may or may have not accidentally insinuated that Grillby and Gaster have a 'relationship'. Personally, i'm not getting into that. I also really like the head canon the fandom has about Grillby being a badass and having once fought either in the war or as the Queen's Guard. Hah, I didn't mean to have Sans out for the fight, honest! I was just writing this and thinking about how Gaster's seen his sons go into fights they weren't prepared for and dying /over/ and /over/ so, he probably still sees his sons as baby bones and cinnamon rolls. Like hell will he let his son fight when he doesn't have to! Not when he can finally step in!
> 
> Asriel and Frisk are now in a locked room. Looks like Sans has learned a thing or two. But is Frisk DETERMINED enough to get out anyway?
> 
> Probably.
> 
> Grillby's ready, are you?


	37. If You Can't Take the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen

Grillby and Gaster exited the bar and looked just past the large Christmas tree. Or rather, what was left of it. The large tree was decimated, the Abomination knawing at the trunk with a snarl. It’s jaws breaking clean through the wood with ease.

“Great. We get to play fetch with a rabid mutt.” Flowey said bitterly to himself as he popped out of the snow. As a flower, he wasn’t a big fan of the cold. As such, he stayed near Grillby… but not overly so, for many reasons.

_“[So, this Abomination cannot actually be harmed?]”_ Gaster shook his head as Grillby began rolling up his sleeves.

“[No. The combined strength of all the monsters, Chara, and Tumble has created an anomaly that should never have existed. It is too unstable to exist as it is now. If we can distract it long enough, Tumble should be able to regain control and properly deal with Chara. After that, the Abomination will go away as it is.]” Gaster said as he rolled up his own sleeves as well. Grillby playfully shifted his weight from one foot to the other as Gaster shook his head.

_“[Ready?]”_

“[Of course.]”

“Not really… let’s go.” They moved as one. With a practiced movement, Gaster summoned a Gaster Blaster that hurtled towards the Abomination. Grillby easily jumped on it and poured fire into it. Thick vines erupted from the ground to contain the Abomination as Grillby back flipped off the Gaster Blaster and onto a new one to repeat the process. The combo of magic built up until the Gaster Blasters fired powerful bombs of energy. A deep echoing cry of pain was barely heard over the sound of the released magic.

The Abomination wretched itself free of the now charred vines and chased after Grillby, the brightest magic source they could see in their almost blind state. Grillby almost seemed to dance out of the way of every blow, rewarding the Abomination’s failure with a hard blast of fire. Anytime it looked as though Grillby needed a moment to catch his breath, vines and Gaster Blasters enraged the creature further. It swiped blindly with sharp claws as distant voices echoed from within the skull.

“Let us help you!”

_“…”_

“Please, Tumble!”

_“I-I can’t. N O O N E E V E R C O M E S...“_

“T-That’s not true! You called for help before! S-Someone came that time! Remember, Tumble, please!”

_“I have to do this on my own…”_ Grillby and Gaster exchanged a look.

“[Oh, Tumble...]”

\--Fear is the most innovative of emotions. It will find any little moment it can and twist it to reflect the facts that it thrives on. Even if those facts are entirely false.—

Frisk and Asriel looked around the lab for anything of use. There wasn’t a key code or puzzle to solve. The door just seemed… locked. There didn’t even seem to be a visible lock or door handle.

“This sucks!” Frisk said, kicking the door hard in frustration before mentally apologizing, “HEY! Asriel, you can do fire magic, right? You could just melt the door off!” Asriel looked really excited at the prospect before realizing something and wilting.

“…Sorry, Frisk. Mom and Dad taught me fire magic, sure, but it was the safe kind. They said I could learn the real stuff later. I could keep us warm, but I can’t burn anything. Or damage anything, really, not without being the ‘God of Hyperdeath’ again…” Frisk nodded in understanding. Teaching Asriel a child-friendly version of fire magic did seem like something Goat Mom would do. Something caught Asriel’s eye as he gasped in excitement. “But that’ll work! Look, Frisk, welding torches! We can melt right through the door!” Asriel grabbed the somewhat heavy canister but was stopped by Frisk. “What is it?”

“… Safety first.”

“Ooohhhh… Got it!” they both put on the welding gloves and masks before nodding at each other, the welding torch easily lighting up.

“You know… it’s kind of weird that there’s welding torches here.”

“Maybe it’s DIY Science.” Frisk shrugged before turning towards the door.

“Sorry door, but you’re _in the way_.” sparks flew as metal began to heat up and melt rapidly.

\--Screw your lab safety, I want superpowers!—

I looked over to Chara and tuned the annoying voice from my memories out.

_“I have to do this on my own…_ Chara, if you want control so badly… come take it from me.” I said challengingly. They didn’t hesitate to grin as a knife materialized in their hand and they charged. Chara had a decent amount of skill, but they were too conditioned to fight monsters who don’t physically attack back or even dodge. _Left. Right. Left. Left. Duck. Kick the knife. **Time to end this…**_ I tackled Chara to the ground and pinned them down. They kicked and screamed but there wasn’t anything they could do.

**“LET ME GO TUMBLE! Why won’t you give in already, we’re both _monsters!_ ”** their face froze as they realized what they just said. For a split second, I thought I could see red pupils within the darkness.

“You are our hope. Our future…” the monster’s cried out in sync. _Oh… earlier, they weren’t talking to me… they were talking to **them**_. I looked deep into the black pits of Chara’s eyes.

**“W-Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it… STOP IT!”** I felt my face soften a bit. Pieced what I knew together. I couldn’t have stopped the tears if I tried. Chara froze.

“All this time… it wasn’t just Asriel who was lost, was it, Chara?” Chara paled and began to shake, “What happened to you… sweetheart?” Chara made a desperate scream, their eyes oozing black and their smile seeming to melt.

**“STOP DOING THAT! STOP ACTING LIKE YOU CARE! NO ONE CARES FOR MONSTERS!”** the monsters below us were silent.

“You did… You… You didn’t fall, did you? Who told you that you were a monster, Chara? _Who hurt you so bad?_ ” the black ooze seemed to shimmer and turn into normal tears. Slowly, the black faded until all that was left were watery ruby eyes.

**“E-Every** one… My parents. The villagers… they were just waiting for me to make one wrong move. Say one wrong thing… no one c-cared… NO ONE CARED WHEN I COULD BARELY WALK I WAS SO BEATEN DOWN! THAT I BARELY HAD ANYTHING TO EAT DESPITE MY PARENTS HAVING PLENTY LEFT OVER! N-N-NO One… no one.” I slowly lifted Chara up into my arms and embraced them.

“T-They were going to kill me, Tumble! Kill me! I… I didn’t mean to do it. At first. The knife was just there and… but then I couldn’t stop stabbing them. They were long dead, but I couldn’t stop. A villager came by because of the commotion. T-They didn’t waste any time tossing me down the hole in Mount Ebott. It hadn’t been very long since the barrier went up, but everyone was convinced it was actually a portal to hell.” Chara clung to me tighter as they began to sob, “T-They literally tossed me into hell! They knew what was going on, but N O O N E C A R E D…” I rocked Chara back and forth, trying to sooth the long ago hurt.

“It’s okay, Chara… just let it out.” I could almost feel Goat Mom close by, a familiar voice humming a gentle tune.

“W-When I realized that the buttercups were poisonous, I knew what I had to do. I-I had to redeem myself! I-I was so much worse than a monster, but none of them ever cared to look. _I was their hope! I was their future! I could set them free, me and Asriel both!_ I only intended to guide Asriel to my village because it was close… all we needed was six souls. Easy enough to find. The very young and old died all the time. But when I saw that village again, every happy memory of family just… burned out of me. I was consumed with R A G E. HOW DARE THEY! H-HOW dAre THeY…” Chara’s voice drifted off into whimpers. I patted their back and hummed the song with Goat Mom. I set them back a little and concentrated. A tiny violet SOUL popped out of my chest. The tiny glowing violet heart seemed to glitter with the many cracks inside it.

Chara didn’t even need prompting. A very broken red SOUL seemed to glow brightly then dim almost completely in rhythm with a heartbeat. A few pieces seemed missing… but where—OH. That explains so much.

“I guess we’re both pretty broken up, aren’t we? It… it isn’t easy to ask for help, but I don’t think we can heal on our own, Chara. I had asked for help, and received it before, but that was after I had mentally lost everything I was. _I couldn’t even remember that calling out never did any good before_ … But you’re just the opposite. Everyone around you made it clear that you didn’t matter. Not your pain. Not your suffering. So when you suddenly found yourself with a family that _would have helped you_ , you were already totally convinced that there was nothing for it. That you were broken and that was that.” I wiped away tears with my thumbs and smiled gently, “So… why don’t we _both_ ask for help. We clearly need it… and they’re all willing to help.” Fresh tears poured down. Chara glanced down in surprise.

“A-After all I did?” I let out a chuckle.

“Yeah. Monsters are really weird. They care so easily about others… so, what do you say, Chara? Are you ready to finally heal?” they gave me a watery smile and nodded. We both took a deep breath and spoke in sync. Unseen by us, there was a rainbow colored [SAVE] button out there somewhere.

**_“Please, help us.”_ **

And someone pressed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! I don't even know who pressed the SAVE button! I guess we'll all be learning something tomorrow! But for now, I am fucking tired JFC
> 
> Enjoy this shit!


	38. SAVING THEM ALL (For Once)

Sans woke up feeling like he had fallen asleep at his stand in the Hotlands again. Then he remembered Grillby and his old man sabotaging him. How long had he been out? He scrambled to his feet and looked out the door. Something in his ribcage tightened at the sight of Grilby, Gaster, and Flowey handling the situation. After so long of being the one to try and buy time, to try and squeeze out some form of revenge, Sans didn’t know what to do when his actions were not needed, but unnecessary. There was no reasoning with the Abomination. No chance to yell out into the RE-LOAD ‘Get Dunked On!’. _He was too late._ _Again._

They were battling it out in the center of Snowdin. Frisk and Asriel should still be safe, but he should probably check on them anyway. A small blip later he was staring at a door with a Frisk and Asriel shaped silhouette welded through it. Sans… he really didn’t know what to think about that. Another blip and he was just outside where welding gear had been abandoned. Over to the right he saw Asriel and Frisk dashing over to the fight. _Geez, and I thought looking after Paps was exhausting_. At least the two of them looked guilty after he popped into being in front of them, causing them to fall down into the snow in surprise.

“so… uh, what do you think you’re doing?” Sans asked pleasantly. Asriel looked sheepishly at Frisk for some convenient excuse. Frisk never failed to entertain at least.

“We were just taking a walk… maybe face off in battle. _Snow_ big deal.” Sans narrowed his eyes.

“yeah. i don’t think so, kid. there’s a whole _flurry_ of problems with that. even i’m basically useless at this point. can’t even keep you squirts safe.” Dark memories of being a Lost Soul resurfaced briefly, “just wanna do somethin’ right for once, ya know?” Frisk blinked back tears and launched into a hug, sending Sans back into the snow. Asriel joined a moment later awkwardly.

“I just want to save Tumble… and what’s left of Chara.” Sans gave Asriel a look before sighing and returning the hug.

“Besides, there is something we can do about the Abomination.” Asriel pulled back to look at Frisk questioningly. “When you were Flowey, the six SOULs made you become Omega Flowey. With all of the Underground and the six SOULs, you became yourself for a moment. If we could just get the SOULs, we might be able to force Tumble back in control. With the support of the underground, Tumble can do it!” Sans looked at Frisk like they were crazy, but Frisk just stared back in DETERMINATION.

“…That just might work. The only reason I turned into the ‘God of Hyperdeath’ was because I wanted to keep all the SOULs I had with me… among other things.” Sans felt something in him move at the opportunity to do something other than stand by or battle against the inevitable.

“fine. i’ll go get them. shouldn’t take but a moment, make no _bones_ about it.” Frisk and Asriel looked at Sans in surprise. Sans, for his part, shrugged and took a step. Then he was gone.

\--What is a SOUL? What is the consciousness? Why do we think they’re both really so different from each other?—

Sans entered the trippy room with the Barrier, feeling safe in the knowledge that Asgore was both ignorant of the current situation, and occupied with the garden. Seven glass tubes came out of the floor, only one of them empty. He looked at them all for a moment uncertainly. He probably wouldn’t be able to carry them all at once, or move them with his magic. Theoretically, he could do it one by one, but he didn’t have time to do this slowly. Well… the SOULs still had some intelligence. Some form of consciousness left. How else would Tumble have gotten help so long ago in the fight with the demon weed?

“heh. you know, i never thought i’d be doing something like this… not sure how to go about any of this really. i mean, you guys are basically dead but…” Sans scratched the back of his skull, not noticing Asgore come up behind him, “i need your help. i know. you guys have been nothing but a means to an end for so long. timeline after timeline you’ve been used. abused. left forgotten. monsters were so wrapped up in leaving, they forgot you guys once lived too. but most everyone in the underground is dead. their SOULs trapped within the tormented and twisted body of my own adopted little sibling by a kid who should have stayed dead. you’ve helped them before. hell, i’m pretty sure you helped every human that called out to you in the battle with omega flowey. so… for every monster that was turned to dust. for Tumble, who’s fighting for control… and Frisk, who’s watching their older sibling struggle for humanity. Help them… Please…” Sans felt tears slide down his cheekbones as his shoulders slumped. The SOULs remained passively within their prisons.

“Sans…” Sans turned around to see Asgore looming over him. At first, he thought he was going to drop dead, the shadowed face of Asgore momentarily striking fear within him. But then he noticed the light catch on Asgore’s face. The King of Monsters was crying. “Are they all truly gone?... even my wife?” Sans nodded his head.

“as gone as you can be with your SOUL trapped within an Abomination.” Asgore sighed.

“I had thought I heard something, some broken cry echo down the halls, but… I was too cowardly to go face it. I had thought…” Asgore shook his head, “It does not matter what I had thought. Sans, with everyone in the underground dead, there is no meaning to breaking the Barrier. To keeping these… poor SOULs locked up. I had, deep down, hoped that I would get to be with Tori once more. But I suppose it is just a dream now. After all I have done, I can think of no better punishment than to undo all the progress I have made… it is what Tori would have wanted anyway… Forgive an old monster and his foolish pride, Tori.” Asgore turned around and walked back into the throne room.

The glass cylinders opened up and the SOULs resonated with light. Sans scarcely had time to take in what was happening when they all rose up and smashed into each other. With a bright light, a new option button appeared before Sans.

[SAVE THEM ALL]

It resonated with a rainbow light and hovered patiently before him. Some dark part of him dissolved. He never had an option like this before. Frisk had probably seen its like at the end of every True-Pacifist run, but Sans had never seen a button dedicated solely to the ACT of SAVING anyone.

“uh… shouldn’t you guys be giving this OPTION to… i donno, the kids? sounds like something they’d be into. these old _bones_ don’t do much besides sit around and ACT… when it’s far too late.” The button stubbornly hovered before him. He could almost feel the gentle warmth of the SAVE button wrapping around him. “…it’s because i asked for help, isn’t it?” Sans didn’t bother stemming the flow of tears. “geez. it’s no wonder you guys never actually made it out. you’d think you were _all_ green with this forgiveness thing. h-heh… human SOULs letting a _monster_ SAVE the day. w-what a w-w-world w-we liv-ve in.” and so, for the first time _ever_ , Sans the Skeleton, a monster, SAVED THEM ALL.

\--Redemption comes in many forms. Sometimes… just sometimes, it’s in an ACT of Freedom never given before, rather than revenge.—

The Abomination froze, mid-swipe at Grillby. Before the very entertained bartinder could take advantage, six beams of light struck the broken SOUL. Sans popped up behind Asriel and Frisk and watched in wonder as the Abomination’s form quivered before it started breaking down.

“heh, you leave for a minute, and the problem’s already solved.” Sans said nonchalantly. Asriel and Frisk looked behind them and smiled at Sans.

“Aren’t you _skele-_ shy? Afraid to let us know what a _softie_ you are?” Sans huffed in good nature.

“i’ll have you know i’m cold to the _bone_.” Asriel and Frisk laughed before grabbing his hands and pulling him towards the melting creature.

It was a little strange to see a mixture of steam and dust rise into the air as the Abomination fell apart piece by piece until all that was left was the head and torso. Something erupted from the sides of the torso and white goopy limbs pulled at the skull. As the goop continued to evaporate, blue sleeves became apparent. The skull came off with a pop and dissolved into dust on the breeze, Tumble’s face now exposed to the cold air.

Their face was a little red, but mostly dirty with gray colored dust. As the last of the Abomination’s body dissolved, Tumble collapsed onto their knees, gasping for breath. Their glasses were in the snow before them, but they didn’t seem to notice as they looked around with wide eyes.

“Well… that was a bit too much excitement for one day… S-Sans? F-Frisk? W-Where are you?” Frisk, Asriel, and Sans reached Tumble just as Grillby, Gaster, and Flowey made it. Frisk giggled and grabbed Tumble’s glasses, slipping them onto their older sibling’s face.

“Right here, silly! You’re blind as a bat, I swear!” Tumble let out a loud laugh as they pulled Frisk into an embrace.

“[Tumble, are you alright? What about your SOUL?]” Gaster asked worriedly before spotting Sans, “[SANS! You’re supposed to… be… resting…]” Tumble looked at a very bemused Sans questioningly.

“Did you get hurt, Sans?” Sans didn’t reply, but continued narrowing his eyes at his father.

“well, what can i say, old man? W E N E E D T O T A L K A B O U T T H A T…” Gaster’s face darkened in a blush as he looked towards Grillby for help. Grillby’s fire seemed to be sputtering in his equivalent of laughter as he shook his head with his hands in front of him.

“Tumble! What… what happened to Chara?” Tumble pushed Frisk back and looked at Asriel with a smile.

“Let’s go inside. It’s freaking cold out here… Doctor, your personality is back together I see.” Gaster spared Tumble a withering glance before cautiously steering the group back to Grillby’s.

\--Every end is merely a new beginning.—

            The air was still and the scent of flowers was heavy in the air. My eyes snapped open as I took in the familiar weight of Frisk on my chest.

            “Son of a bitch.” I was hit with the realization that I’d have to redo _everything_ again. I brushed aside some of Frisk’s hair and sighed, “Let’s try that again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look at that! Finally, a chance to get the ending this series needed! Things will be different this time around, in more than one way! This all should be over by the end of the week. Hah... this has been a hell of a ride. As a small note, here are things I desperately need in this fandom: Southern Frisk "You need Southern Jesus *to Flowey*", Reader/Sans where the Reader is attracted to defined skeletal structures and it goes downhill from there, a pyromaniac who is at least fascinated by Grillby, and can someone, for the love of god, give me Sans who loves Owl City and gets Papyrus hooked on it until he realizes that it's 90% Puns and 20% catchy music.


	39. What is a Memory, but a Dream of the Past?

Frisk woke up blearily and rubbed their eyes. It took half a beat before their eyes shot open and they looked around in a panic before realizing they were on top of me and sighing in relief.

            “You okay, midget?” Frisk nodded happily.

            “I wasn’t sure if Gaster RESET the timeline properly! I thought he accidentally RESET the timeline to one where you didn’t exist!” I blushed a little at the memory of our talk in Grillby’s before Gaster RESET the timeline. How was I supposed to know that his name was _Doctor W.D. Gaster_ , rather than just Doctor?! _Maybe if I fucking let him finish his damn sentence…_

            “Anyway, are you ready to try this again?” Frisk nodded with DETERMINATION, “Alright, c’mon. Let’s go meet the pissy weed and Goat Mom. Remember Frisk, no flirting with Goat Mom.” Frisk huffed in irritation. I giggled as I steered Frisk into the other room where Flowey awaited.

            “Howdy! I’m Flowey, Flowey the Flower… you know what? This is stupid! The last run and here I am doing the same damn thing! Tumble, Frisk! I’ll go through the motions, for the sake of the timeline’s continuity, but don’t expect me to have to tell you everything again!” The world faded as we entered battle mode. Frisk’s SOUL was the same bright red I remembered, but my own had one crucial difference from before. About a quarter of the way down the middle, there was a hairline crack that glittered red and blue in the light. Otherwise, it was the same luminescent violet that I remembered the first time around. On another note, it’s nice to know that I won’t have to go through Omega Flowey again. That bullshit was just so much NOPE.

            “You really remember everything, don’t you?” Flowey rolled his eyes.

            “Of course! You know… I think I heard something about strange dreams on the way over here… maybe I’m not the only one who remembered things from the different timelines?” white bullets appeared behind him, “You know everything already, but go on ahead. _Get hit by my ‘Friendliness Pellets’… make my day._ ” Flowey sneered as the two of us easily dodged the bullets. A spark of flame appeared and knocked a very surprised Flowey into the shadows. _Wasn’t that a little sooner than usual?_

            “What a wretched… are you two alright?” Goat Mom seemed to scrunch her face up in confusion before continuing, “I am Toriel, Keeper of the Ruins… this is a little odd, but can you tell me your names?” I smiled as battle mode faded away.

            “I’m Will Tumble, you can just call me Tumble, and this is Frisk, Go—“ I stopped before I could say anything else. Goat Mom’s face lit up.

            “…This will sound so strange, my child, but… were you about to call me ‘Goat Mom’, by any chance?” I nodded hesitantly, “That is most unusual… I had thought my old age was getting to me, dreaming of two human children who called me ‘Goat Mom’ and freed the entire underground. Dreaming about an endless stream of timelines… they were not dreams, were they?” _I wonder if anyone else remembers the different timelines?_

            “Is it okay? Calling you Goat Mom again?” Frisk asked quietly. Goat Mom’s face crumbled into a small smile.

            “Of course it is. I have trouble imagining doing anything differently, but I suppose since you two seem to know what I am talking about, I can just… let you go to my home?” I ushered Frisk forward and gave Goat Mom a hug.

            “I still have every intention of going to Asgore on my own and leaving Frisk here. I know they’ll be safe. With any luck, I can avoiding fighting anyone this time and still free you guys.” Goat Mom sighed.

            “Of course… I suppose Frisk and I will just have to hold on for a few days. I still intend to be there when you meet Asgore, but I understand your desire to make the journey on your own.” I smiled as Goat Mom pulled back from the hug. She pulled out a phone and handed it to me. “I guess there’s no harm in repeating a few things like last time. Perhaps we can both act surprised when you appear at my house and I have baked a pie?” Frisk and I giggled as we made it through the familiar rooms. Goat Mom still insisted on guiding us through the spiked floor part.

            “Alright, Goat Mom. We’ll see you in a bit, okay?” Goat Mom fretted for a bit before nodding.

            “Just remember to call if you need me, try talking to the monsters rather than FIGHTING, and to—“ Frisk and I laughed and gave her another hug.

            “Don’t worry, Goat Mom. We made it last time. It won’t be difficult to do it again. Now go on, I can’t wait to taste your Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie again!” I said reassuringly to Goat Mom. She giggled and went off with little hesitation.

            It was a little weird this time around. Every monster we encountered could be SPARE’d immediately. They mostly just seemed curious and excited to see us. _Exactly how many people did Gaster accidentally give access to previous memories?_ Not that I was complaining. It was the only way I knew how to get gold for those damn spider products. No way was I risking battling the fucking Girl Scout, Muffet. Nabstablook was actually smiling as we encountered him pretending to be asleep.

            “Hey, sexy. Keeping it classy, still?” Nabstablook lifted off the floor and gave a shy smile.

            “Yeah… most of the underground seems to of had the same dream recently. Metta even gave me a call this morning. Finding out that the dream was real is exhilarating… you can visit again, if you want… not that you should feel like you have too or anything…” I shook my head.

            “Don’t worry about it, Nabs! I fully intend to visit again. Hey, not sure if you picked up on it, but this is Frisk, my little cherub!” Frisk waved heartily and Nabs almost beamed.

            “Hey… I’m not sure if the dream was accurate, but do you mind if I show you my trick again?” I shook my head.

            “Go on ahead, sweetheart!” little white tears fell upwards and formed a top hat. Frisk and I clapped in excitement.

            “Looking good, Nabs!” I said with a smirk while Nabs began to blush.

            “I came by hoping the dream would come true, and it did! I met such nice people today…” Nabs said as he floated up and out. The rest of the way was pretty much just like that. Monsters coming by, hoping that the dream was real, and being super happy when it appeared as though it was. It didn’t take long to reach Goat Mom’s house again. We all faked surprise and laughed as we headed inside. I caught sight of the sparkly save point and smiled.

Third times the charm, the words echo in my head, and fills me with PERSEVERENCE.

            _You little shits…_

\--Home can be anywhere and more than one place, but it’s always filled with a sense of comfort and peace.—

            We rested and ate pie while Goat Mom told us more about the dream. I was mostly just relieved that it seemed to be only my first time down here she remembered and a sense that there were other timelines. I think Frisk was really relieved as well. Before long, it was time to head out again.

            “I took the liberty to pack your bag like last time. Please do call every day and before you see Asgore. I intend to have _words_ with him if he tries to continue this madness.” I giggled and gave Frisk a hug before embracing Goat Mom as well. I waved good bye and headed out into the snowy landscape. I made sure to wink at the camera and mouth ‘see you soon’ before heading on my way. I soon realized that Sans intended to do exactly what he did last time. _That piece of shit better be wearing the Temmie Armor so I can smack him_

            “turn around, don’t you know how to greet your B I G B R O T H E R?” I spun on my heel and tackled him to the ground.

            “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t smack you right now?!” I asked furiously. Sans gave me a shit eating grin and pointed at his plain white shirt.

            “timeline RESET. i don’t have temmie armor anymore.” Sans laughed at my expression and yanked me down into a hug. “it’s so good to see you, tumble. you’ll never guess who’s home right now! _doctor._ paps is so happy. guess he still remembers a little bit more than i thought.” Sans let out a deep sigh before pulling us both up, “c’mon, you know the drill.” I laughed and followed Sans across the bridge, not even waiting to be asked before hiding in his stand this time. _Because, you know, that’s the only **logical** fucking place to hide._

            “SANS! YOU HAVEN’T RECALIBRATED YOUR TRAPS IN DAYS! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING OUT HERE?”

            “just admiring my sentry stand. wanna take a look?” I so did not see this next part coming.

            “NYEH-HEH-HEH! I THINK YOU’RE TRYING TO HIDE MY PRECIOUS YOUNGER SIBLING SANS!” I didn’t even have time to react as heavy footsteps bounded over to me and I was lifted out of the stand and into a big hug, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEMORIES AND DREAMS! IT IS GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, TUMBLE! DO YOU REMEMBER ME TOO?” I caught a glimpse of Sans’ surprised face before he bounded over and Papyrus lifted him into a hug too. “OUR FATHER IS HERE TOO! HE HAD BEEN SCATTERED BY THE CORE, HE BUILT IT YOU KNOW, AND HE TOLD ME TO PRETEND LIKE I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING AND SURPRISE YOU TWO! HAVE YOU BEEN THOROUGHLY JAPED?!” I let out a loud guffaw and Sans joined me.

            “Yeah, I sure did Papy! It’s good to see you again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, so looks like everyone is just really excited that it looks like they'll be free! Just a small note, the last chapter where there was a time skip between going into Grillby's and waking up at the beginning, there was an actual talk where they discussed what to do. I'm just keeping it away from you guys for a dramatic reveal later. And it was something of a happy accident that everyone remembers Tumble's run. It'll be great. I swear. This is also a bit of a challenge to see if I can successfully have a True-True-Pacifist ending where no one actually fights but I guess we'll see, won't we?
> 
> Enjoy, cause it's almost over ;)


	40. Dreams Becoming Reality

Papy insisted we go through the puzzles again (WHAT BETTER FAMILY BONDING TIME THAN PUZZLES?!) and the two bone heads were pretty surprised at the barely contained excitement of the monsters we passed by. They also had great fun making Frosty a proper snowman. (still can’t handle my junior jumble, baby bones? _Shut the hell up, Sansy, before I smack you. Temmie Armor or no Temmie Armor._ ) I appreciated the thought of Papy trying to pretend like there wasn’t a deadly trap bridge. (AH YES, AN ORDNINARY BRIDGE LIKE ANY OTHER. NO NEED TO LOOK CLOSELY AT IT OR THE TRAP ACTIVATION DEVICE NEXT TO IT! NONE AT ALL! COME ALONG, TUMBLE, IT’S SUCH A BORING BRIDGE!) By the time we made it to Snowdin, it had been about a solid hour. The townspeople talked among themselves happily when they caught sight of me on Papy’s shoulders.

            “hey, why don’t we celebrate at Grillby’s?” Papy looked at Sans in mortification.

            “ABSOLUTELY NOT! THAT GREASY ESTABLISHMENT IS IN NO WAY APPROPRIATE TO CELEBRATE OUR NEW EXTENDED FAMILY!” I felt all warm and toasty. _Damnit, all this cheesy shit is eating away at my badass rep. Maybe I should challenge Grillby to a spar? Or even Undyne. I don’t feel like getting barbequed just yet_.

            “Why, Papy, I thought you’d appreciate not having to cook? We could go get Doc and eat out before I try and move on.” Papy seemed to blush at his nickname.

            “sounds like a great idea. c’mon paps. let’s go get pops.” Papy bounded forward, holding me securely on my perch, and I laughed as he nearly forgot I was there before going through the doorway.

            There, sitting on the couch watching TV was Doc. I guess he’d had enough of time travel and science for a while.

            “FATHER! DO YOU WISH TO GO TO GRILLBY’S TO CELEBRATE TUMBLE’S RETURN?” Doc seemed mildly surprised at Papy’s sudden appearance but laughed at my precarious perch anyway. It was a pleasant sound. I had almost forgotten how much better he sounds all put together again. I couldn’t understand him anymore, but he looked way better as his not-goopy self anyway.

            “[Sure, son. It’s good to see you again, Tumble.]” I smiled back at Doc and we turned around to leave. Before we could, a familiar six pack of fish sticks burst in.

            “DREAM BESTIE! WHERE—oh, bestie, there you are… you guys going somewhere?” Sans chuckled, though I could see what appeared to be literal stars in his eyes.

            “we were heading to grillby’s. would you _pike_ to join us?” Papy gave a loud screech at the fish pun and Undyne smirked.

            “Hell yeah, punk! Papyrus, put my bestie down! I need to borrow them for a minute!” Papy reluctantly let me down and Undyne swept out the door with the boney butts following behind. “So… Tumble, are we really friends?” I laughed at the almost shy question.

            “Nope. We’re BESTIES… if you want to be, that is. Why, what’s eating at your gills, Undyne?” Undyne let out a whoop of laughter and spun me around before tucking me under her arm like a bag of potatoes.

            “Well, I wanted to make sure, ‘cause I got a favor to ask of you… in the dream I had, and apparently the whole of the underground, a certain… wish of mine came true. C-Can you, deliver this letter to Alphys in the Hotlands?” I laughed and took the letter with a nod.

            “Yeah, sure thing. Glad I don’t have to fight you again, though. Perhaps, after this, we can spar sometime? I would say meet up at your house and spar, but there’s a reason my SOUL isn’t blue with PATIENCE, ya know?” Undyne laughed and clapped me hard on the back as we entered Grillby’s place. I waved at the monsters and gave Grillby a look. _Look at you, standing behind the bar like you can’t kick ass. Fucking liar._ All I got was a cheeky grin as Grillby left to fix up some food.

\--Good food and great family are the foundation of a happy life—

            Undyne insisted on sticking behind with Papy. Something about not wanting to burn down her house again. I just laughed as I walked out of Snowdin, waving goodbye to everyone. Except Sans, that fucking prick. I knew that he’d be in Waterfall.

            Lo and fucking behold, there he is. The smug bastard. I flip him off and carry on with my god damn life. It’s when he starts laughing that I realize I need to get him the fucking Temmie Armor again. _Son of a bitch!_

            At least MK was happy to see me. He was all happy feet and flailing head when he realized that he gets to be friends with the human, and it was cool, because all the monsters were cool about it too. I did tell him to go home before he almost pitches himself over a cliff again. With a blush, he trotted off, nearly smashing into the ground again.

            I made sure to do the stupid music puzzle with the dog again so I could spam Temmie for gold. That was also super weird a second time because now Temmie apparently has two college masteries in ‘Temmie History’. Did I learn any of it? No. No I did not. But I did get a second set of Temmie Armor. This time, the words were only slightly offset and in rainbow colors. Cool. Now Sans has another one and his punk ass won’t smell after wearing it too long. Hopefully anyway.

            The look on his face was a mixture of resignation, surprise, and deep amusement.

            “If I _ever_ hear about you getting your ass kicked because you didn’t wear the fucking Temmie Armor, I will delve deep into black magic, drag you back into the realm of the living, and beat the shit out of you. _Bitch_.” Sans let out a cooing rattle and pulled me into a hug, giving my hair a firm ruffle.

            “aw. i knew you cared about me.” I let out a huff and wildly swung my arms around in frustration.

            “YOU ARE RUINING MY BAD ASS PERSONA, I SWEAR!”

            “ _softie_.”

            “FIGHT ME, BITCH!” I’m still not sure if his deep laughter is more amused or relieved than anything.

\--Sometimes, our chosen personas say more about us than our natural ones—

            I took in a deep breath of _fuck you Sans_ as I walked blissfully past his stand. Nabs was so cute when Metta called in the middle of my visit. His entire body flushed pink as he nervously talked about how happy he was that Metta went out of his way to talk to him. I moved past the sparkly save point.

The watchful support of family, even punk ass older brothers, fills me with PERSEVERENCE.

            Hell yeah it does, sparkly save point! I walked through the door to Alphys’ home and smiled at how nervous the yellow dinosaur seemed to be. Alphys seemed to be arguing with herself about something.

            “Gold piece for your thoughts?” Alphys nearly shot up about three feet.

            “O-Oh! I-It’s y-you, T-Tum—the human!”

            “Cut the crap, Alphys, I know most of the underground remembers the last timeline.” _Well, at least the last one I stayed human for the whole ride_. At least Alphys looked a little conflicted.

            “T-Tumble… I’m not sure what to do. I-I mean, is this really happening? D-Did everyone really just accept my mistakes like that?” I chuckled and pulled Alphys into a hug.

            “Yep. Everything was real. Here, Undyne even gave me the letter early. I guess she’s really excited to be with you in this timeline too.” Alphys looked to the entrance to the ‘True Lab’ nervously. I let out a deep sigh. _The things I do for my friends._ “I’ll even go down with you, Alphys. You can read the letter, I can call Undyne to set up a time for the date, we can go down and take care of the various Amalgamates, and I can handle Mettaton. Think he would settle for our encounters being just appearances and an interview instead of battle? I’d rather not have to watch him fall apart again… it was a little unnerving. And I mean the transformation thing too, not just him randomly dropping limbs like Sans drops puns.” Alphys looked up at me in awe.

            “Y-You’d really do that?”

            “Well, yeah. While you’re on your date, I’ll just go along like last time (hopefully without any traps), and help Mettaton with his ratings. Sound okay?” Alphys nodded her head happily and went about opening the letter. She stopped for a moment.

            “Oh! L-Let me update your phone real quick!” I handed her my phone and walked over to the section of wall that Mettaton had previously erupted from. I knocked on it, feeling only a little silly.

            “Yo, Metta, you there? I have a deal to make with you. Wanna have _all_ your dreams of being famous come true?” I was glad that I moved out of the way when Mettaton burst through the wall again.

            “Dar~ling, you have my attention!” thank god… I only have to worry about a _drama queen_ keeping their part of the deal. I idly heard a strangled scream as Alphys finished updating my phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, only about two or three updates left and I am done! I'm not too sure of a solid plot for a sequel but I do plan on making one. I also plan on enriching this fandom with at least one decent Harry Potter crossover. Mostly because i'm still Potter trash to this day. Sorry. Not really, but hey, there it is. I also still plan on doing that oneshot collection of different AUs for what may have happened at least once. First up, "Weird Puppy". trust me, it'll be a blast. I've also really liked the idea of a monster!OC/Reader story for quite some time now. With a twist. Sort of.... Just, expect a shit ton of Undertale sometime in the future, yeah?
> 
> Enjoy cx


	41. A Round of Applause Means Good Ratings

So, now that this part of my plan was coming together, I’m one step closer to the finale…

            Undyne and Alphys’ date was in three hours. Plenty of time to go through that fucking lab. Alphys looked a little nervous as the elevator took us down. Thankfully, it didn’t plummet me to a false heart attack. That was nice. Unfortunately, everything still looked like a fucking horror house.

            “Okay, seriously, why are the keys for the generator room spread through the god damn lab?” Alphys laughed nervously as I walked through and grabbed the keys as I passed by their locations, willfully ignoring the creepy glowing messages, ghost like monsters, and general fucking nope atmosphere.

            “W-Well, a good treasure hunt usually perks me up!” I threw my hands in the air after grabbing the green key.

            “Every god damn monster down here should live in a Professor Layton game, I swear to god…” Alphys laughed at my horrified expression at the moving fridge. At least the Amalgamates aren’t attacking me this time. Likely because Alphys was there with me. _It really pays to have the hand that feeds them with me_ … _Or rather, paws that feeds them._ I heard a growl behind me and walked a little faster, snagging the key hidden in a bed. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope…” Alphys scuffled after me and resolutely refused to look behind her.

            When that special slice of hell was finally over with Alphys went to get ready for her date and I headed out to go make some ‘special appearances’ like last time. Only this time, instead of trying to kill me, I’ll just go through with the encounters like I’m actually supposed to live. The final show down will instead be an interview. I like this much more than going through scripted encounters with false attempts to kill me.

            First up was the quiz show. The questions were the same, though they ended before the anime question, thankfully. It was filled with a lot of cheese, but it was just meant to introduce me to his audience, so to speak. Next up was the cooking show. I fully suspect that he actually planned his little ‘slip’.

            “And the final ingredient, is… your SOUL!” I felt my face morph into the very embodiment of ‘HELL NO’, before he let out a laugh, “I’m just teasing, darling~! It’s tender love and care while it bakes in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow the cake to cool for fifteen minutes before icing and serving! Enjoy, my darlings~!” and the cameras were off. _That mother fucking calculator!_ I gave him a look and he just shrugged. “My viewers wanted some tension! Besides, darling, your expression was priceless.” I gave him a level stare as I gave him the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. He just laughed as I went on my merry way. The denizens of Hotland were equally excited as every other monster I passed. Glad to know I made such a good impression the last time through here.

            The news report one was a quirky way to announce Metta’s intention to interview me later. He also reported a very high increase in ratings. Good to know. At least I didn’t have to worry about all that explosion bullshit this time around. Alphys’ updates about her date were adorable. Almost as adorable as Undyne’s panicked texts about what to wear earlier. I guess her clothes the last time was just because her house caught on fire. Good to know she has more than two outfits.

            I was super glad I had hoarded a bit of gold earlier when I ran into the area with Muffet again. I donated some money and made sure to snack on a spider donut on the way through her ‘parlor’. I was so not chancing that shit. Seeing Metta in drag again was just as funny as the last time. Though I wasn’t tossed in the dungeon this time. I just had to run off stage with a declaration of my undying love before Asgore’s guard ‘caught’ me.

            “I will find a way to be with you, my love! Say hello to Nabs for me~!” I wasn’t supposed to say that last part, but I really couldn’t help myself and Metta gave a startled laugh that didn’t sound half bad. _For a fucking calculator_. I casually walked up to the expensive fucking hotel/restaurant. Sans was leaning against the wall outside waiting for me.

            “hey, tums. wanna grab something to eat?” I gave him a look.

            “We didn’t eat anything here last time, you dork.” He gave a shrug and linked his arm with mine.

            “fine then. we’ll just talk.” In a flash we were sitting at the table like last time. I looked carefully at his shirt, smiling at the sight of the ‘newer’ Temmie Armor.

            “Oh thank god, I was afraid your pansy ass was walking around without proper protection again.” Sans snorted and rolled his little flashlight eyeballs.

            “…so, this is the last run, isn’t it?” Sans looked conflicted for a moment before continuing, “i’m not going to wake up to paps telling me to recalibrate my puzzles anymore? i won’t have to wonder what kind of frisk will walk through the ruins, if anyone will be left inside?” tears welled up in his eye sockets.

            “Sans… I’m ninety percent sure Papy will still try and have you involved in a puzzle of some sort. But, yeah. This is the last time. Everything will be put to rest soon. I’ll still see you in the Judgment Hall, right?” Sans wiped at his eyes and nodded.

            “yeah… uh, tums?” I gave a positive hum, “i… we’ll still be family, right? when we get to the surface?” I laughed and walked over to his side of the table.

            “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. Unfortunately, it’s quite mutual. This whole, family dynamic thing going on here.” I suddenly squeezed harder and hissed in displeasure, “ _Even if you still fucking consume ketchup like it’s god damn water._ ” Sans laughed and gave me a tight hug back before pushing his teeth against my temple and retreating before I could take in the dark blue shading to his face. _Wait… did he just… did he just fucking give me a kiss?! Sonofabitch that cute little shit!_

            “GET BACK HERE AND LET ME LOVE YOU!” I shouted to the empty section of room. I was too irritated to pay any mind to the amused snickers of the other patrons. I did, however, run by and buy a burger from Burgerpants. He seemed happy, though that may have been the ‘customer service’ smile he had on his face. I wasn’t entirely sure. Still smoking on the job. I went out to the balcony outside to enjoy my Glamburger and prepare to call Goat Mom.

            “Hello, my child! Are you already there?” I laughed at the surprise in her voice.

            “Nah, I’m outside of Metta’s hotel. Just wanted to give you a heads up that it shouldn’t be much longer. Frisk doing okay?”

            “Yes, they are doing fine. They seem partial to the flowers, always talking to them, quietly, but there’s no harm in letting them go on. It’s kind of cute.” They may have been talking to Flowey then. Good… good.

            “Hah, alright, tell the midget I called. Give them a hug for me. I’ll call you again soon, ‘kay Goat Mom?”

            “Alright Tumble. Be good, my child.” I let out a sigh and hung up. Okay, just one last thing to do before I go to Asgore.

\--Knowing that the end is almost here fills me with PERSEVERENCE and… SADNESS.—

_I’ll miss you too, oddly omniscient sparkly save points._ I thought idly as I walked into the room with Mettaton waiting for that interview. Lo and behold, there he was behind a desk with a chair set out for me already.

            “Darling~! There you are! Come over and have a seat and we’ll start the interview.” I laughed and took a seat before spinning around to face Metta.

            “Hello, Metta. Thanks for having me!” _Thanks for not trying to steal my SOUL this time._

            “Think nothing of it, dear. Now, could you introduce yourself to my lovely audience?” _What, don’t want to admit that you don’t actually know my name? Okay, chill, Tumble. Seriously._

            “Hello, underground! I’m Will Tumble Ebott! Older sibling to one Frisk Alice Ebott. But you can call me Tumble.” I said with a smile before reaching out to shake Metta’s hand. Gamely, he shook and continued.

            “So, Tumble, what do you think about the strange phenomenon the entire underground experienced concerning dreams about you?” I looking consideringly for a moment.

            “I’m really not sure. It’s pretty weird, but I’m hardly complaining. Stranger things have happened!” _Like turning into an Abomination that’s the combo of every monster SOUL, Chara, and myself. That was weird. And Angsty, god so fucking angsty._

            “Well, what do you plan on doing when you reach Asgore?”

            “I was hoping to avoid fighting him and try to solve a way to break the barrier. I mean… you guys never mentioned I actually had to be _dead_ for my SOUL to count, did you? I don’t remember hearing that part.” Metta looked shocked for a moment.

            “W-Well, no, actually. We all just know it takes seven human SOULs. I mean, we assumed that a monster would have to absorb them, but it wouldn’t hurt to try something _else_ beforehand!” I let out a relieved sigh.

            “Thank goodness, cause I’d rather not battle King Fluffybuns.” There was a distant sound of laughter as Metta moved out from behind the desk.

            “Alright, Tumble, I have a favor to ask. Would you mind terribly flipping my switch? I wanted to show off my new form for my audience before taking calls!” I guess we hit ten thousand already.

            “No problem.” _I still regret everything_. It wasn’t reassuring to learn that he still did the weird magical girl/transformers sequence and ending with a—

            _“Oh~Yes!”_ _yeah… that… fucking hell…_ “Thanks, darling Tumble! This is the premier of my new body, Mettaton X”

            “Is the ‘X’ for _ex-_ treme legs?” I asked with a drawl. Metta laughed and sat down at the desk to show off his legs.

            “Aren’t you _precious_.” He cooed as he began to take calls. Nabs, that cute little Casper, called all shy and shit. He then proceeded to bum himself out and hang up before he took up much time.

            “Still think you’re sexy, Nabs!” I called out to the camera, fully aware he was probably still watching. Metta gave me a questioning look. _What? Think I’m trying to steal your cuz away? BRING IT BITCH!_ The massive wave of support was still rather touching though.

            “Well, that’s all for today lovelies, please support Tumble dearest! We wish you luck, Tumble!” Metta said as the cameras turned off. He quickly turned towards me in a flurry of movement. “ _Darling~!_ I cannot thank you enough! My ratings have never been so high, my relationship with Blooky so close, and you’ll be freeing us from the Barrier to boot! I don’t want to keep you too long, dear, just know I support you! I better head back to Alphys before my body shuts down again, ta-ta!” I let out a laugh and headed to the closest save point. I took a deep breath and smiled. _It was almost over_.

\--The overwhelming amount of support from the underground fills me with PERSEVERENCE--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so tomorrow should be the last chapter! Prepare for the ending! I'll be sad to see it end, but it really does have to end sooner or later. Or tomorrow, rather.
> 
> Sorry that there wasn't a battle between Undyne/Mettaton/Tumble. I just couldn't justify it here when Undyne had her date going on and Tumble sure as hell didn't want to watch Metta fall apart like it was no big deal again. HAHAHA, by the way, I have planned from the beginning to have Frisk and Tumble be 'Ebotts'. I thought it would be ironic. And Frisk's middle name is totally intentional, just FYI. I love my irony and foreshadowing in seemingly innocuous phrases. Like in this chapter, but my Beta says it's not foreshadowing unless it actually states what's going to happen. Like, there was a reason I phrased it like that, chicka. There's a reason Tumble got a little weird. But, whatever. Hope Y'all enjoyed the cute ASF Sans moment. I sure as hell did. I have seen the little comic thing where a 'skeleton kiss' was more of a gentle head-butt, but I figured this would be a gesture Tumble would recognize more easily. Haha, the headcanon that the skelebros blush the color of their magic just fucking /enchants/ me, I swear.
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy~


	42. Rest in Peace, But Not in Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX89hlKyziU
> 
> You'll know when to use this. Don't worry...
> 
> Anyway, E N J O Y~

I moved through the oddly quiet house, dropping by the gray-toned room with the Worn Knife and Heart Locket. It flashed a comforting red with a rainbow shine and I had to pause a moment to not have tears well up in my eyes.

_It’ll be nice to finally **rest** , don’t you think?_

            I shook myself out of it and moved forward to meet up with Sans in the Judgement Hall. The sparkly save point glittering sadly. Or maybe it was just me?

Which is worse, saying goodbye, or never getting a chance to? The ever present question fills me with PERSEVERENCE… it’ll be okay.

            _… fucking hell, man, I’m trying to not cry here_. I moved forward through the golden light, echoes of screams and flashes of blood fading into the past. Where it will always be. I blinked and Sans was standing in front of me with his arms open wide. I didn’t hesitate to run into his embrace.

            “it’ll be okay, tums. i know it’s hard, but it’s almost over… want me to walk you to Asgore?” I blinked away tears and nodded. Sans looked oddly conflicted for a moment, “look… i’m not going to say that seeing them gone will make me… _overly_ sad, but i know you care a lot about them… but considering how easy it is for them to get corrupted, it’s probably for the best.” I let out a sad chuckle.

            “I-I know… but after going through so much… I just wish that…” I shook my head and pulled out of the embrace, carefully taking hold of Sans hand. His ever-present grin softened as he tightened his grip comfortingly. We walked in silence until I came across the last save point.

Everything was going according to plan.

            “hey… i know this is really hard right now, but can we… make a stop? I wanna… pay my respects.” I nodded my head and let him steer me towards the stairs that lead to the crypts with the remains of the fallen SOULs.

_What are you crying for, idiot? I thought you’d be relieved to see me gone?_

            Holding hands, we looked out on the rows of coffins. Sans tightened his grip but couldn’t seem to speak. So I did it for him.

            “Thanks… for holding out for so long. For your help…. for everything. I never really knew you guys, I don’t think anyone here ever really did, but thank you. It’ll all be over soon. We’ll all finally be free. _Everyone_.” I carefully tugged Sans into a side hug.

            “yeah… couldn’t have said it better myself… Thank you. Thank you for letting me SAVE everyone, just once… thanks for helping out this bag of bones.” I let out a choked laugh and pat the coffin with a red SOUL. _Soon._ We turned around and walked back to the doorway with Asgore waiting just beyond, tending to his flowers. I hastily wiped my eyes and let go of Sans hand to call Goat Mom. He looked questioningly until he heard her voice on the line.

            “Ah, you are there now, my child?”

            “Y-Yeah…”

            “…very well then… I will see you soon.” I gave Sans a look after Goat Mom hung up.

            “You can go on ahead. I’ll see you in a bit anyway.” Sans looked conflicted before flashing a grin.

            “sure thing, tums. try not to miss me too much!” I laughed a little and moved forward. It was time to face Asgore again. I moved forward, my quiet footsteps catching Asgore’s attention. He turned around in surprise and smiled sadly.

            “…So the dreams were true?” he looked down and sighed, “I so badly want to ask you if you’d like a cup of tea…” tears welled up in his eyes as he looked down at the ring on his finger. It was a simple gold band. A wedding band.

            “That would be nice… I rather like Golden Flower Tea.” He looked up in shock, a smile coming easily to his face. He seemed to realize something and sighed.

            “Well… perhaps we can see what can be done about the Barrier, first? I…I heard the interview with Mettaton… come when you are ready.” He quietly walked through the door towards the trippy room with the Barrier.

_Uh… Tumble, when it comes time… could you… not tell mom and dad?_

_…_

_I mean, I’ve been gone a long time. Telling them that I’m going to die a second time would just be… cruel._

            Resolutely, I walked through the doorway. Asgore was standing in front of the glass cylinders. He seemed conflicted and deeply upset.

            “What’s done is done… if I had known there _might_ be another way… I would have at least tried.” He let out a deep sigh, “I just hope that… no, after all I have done, I do not deserve forgiveness, least of all, the forgiveness of the SOULs… nor my wife. Curse my pride.” His eyes teared up as I tried to give him a reassuring smile. I gently moved my SOUL out into the open, Asgore visibly showing concern for its cracked state. The other SOULs resonated lightly when Goat Mom suddenly burst through with her paws blazing with fire. _Uh… someone was ready to kick ass, weren’t they?_

            “Tumble! My child, are you… oh.” she didn’t seem to know what to do now that she was here and there wasn’t a threat to my life. Frisk charged forward and embraced me.

            “It’ll be okay…” I nodded and carefully brushed my hand through their hair as Asgore and Mom looked awkwardly at eachother.

            “Tori…” he looked at his wedding band and mom seemed to soften at the sight of it. I guess seeing that he still wore his wedding ring and that he changed his ‘kill the humans’ policy was enough to soften some of the anger.

            “Asgore… it will take more than just this to make up for what you have done.” Asgore visibly wilted, “But it is a start.” He looked ecstatic to hear that as the others poured in. Papy and Sans walked in with Undyne and Alphys behind them. Papyrus swept Frisk and I into a hug as Sans dropped a few puns for mom. Undyne looked nice. Her hair looked much the same as it was the last time around, but her tunic top went well with the tight pants and boots. Now she looked like a knight in casual wear. A punk rock knight, given the dark color scheme of black and dark grey, but a knight nonetheless.

            Papy put us down as Alphys looked nervously around her.

            “P-Papyrus, how did you manage to call everyone here?” Papy seemed to shine as he admitted his grand secret.

            “A little yellow flower helped me! He was very nice!” Flowey popped up out of the ground and smiled cheerfully.

            “Howdy! I’m Flowey the Flower! Let’s get this over with, shall we?” vines whipped out and ensnared everyone. It only took Flowey shooting a few bullets to get everyone here in a grand show of support. I felt a little bad, but this was the only way I knew of to break the Barrier _and_ give Asriel his true form back. In moments, it was over.

\--It takes a lot of courage to put our demons to rest… sometimes, we’re our own demons, and it’s long past our bed time.—

            Asriel stood in front of me as he carefully tested his grip. He turned around and faced me with tears in his eyes.

            “Howdy, Tumble… It’s good to see you again.” I moved forward to embrace my little goat bro. Tears threatening to spill over again.

            “Yeah… it’s good to see you too. Meet up at the same place, right? To fix one last thing?” Asriel laughed and hugged me back.

            “Yeah! It’ll be nice to see Chara again…” his voice threatened to crack, “I-I guess there’s no reason to wait, is there?.... see you soon, Tumble.” I gripped tighter as a wave of power surrounded us and all the SOULs were released… and the Barrier was broken.

_Besides, you did say playtime was over… and what comes after that, but bed time?_

\--No one envies the dead more than those who are still living and vice versa. It’s a vicious cycle of too soon and far too late.—

            I blinked blearily up at Frisk’s concerned face as they slipped my glasses back on.

            “Ah, my child! I see you are awake! We were beginning to get worried!”

            “TUMBLE! YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT! OR RATHER, YOU WILL, BECAUSE IT HAPPENED IN THE DREAM TOO! THE BARRIER IS GONE!” Papy shouted in excitement before pouting, “UNFORTUNATLY, ASGORE’S SHAVED CLONE STILL SAYS PUNS LIKE SANS!” I laughed as Sans pulled me up.

            “Thanks, Sansy.” Sans shrugged and winked at me.

            “You looked like you needed _a hand_.”

            “SANS!” Papy shrieked indignantly.

            “Tumble… thank you for whatever it is you did. As soon as you are ready, we will depart. If you have any unfinished business, I suggest you do so now.” Asgore said solemnly. Undyne gave Alphys a smooch on the cheek and laughed.

            “U-Undyne! Not in front of the humans!” Alphys protested, causing Frisk and I to laugh alongside Undyne.

            “Sorry, babe. I couldn’t help myself! Man! What a way to end our date, huh?” Alphys stuttered out something positive that I couldn’t make out, her face as red as Undyne’s hair… it is hair, right? Not, like, stylistic fins or some shit? _Focus, Tumble. One last thing to do…_

            “Ah, actually, I do have one more thing to do… it shouldn’t take long.” Frisk and Sans looked conflicted, “You guys can just wait here, I’ll be fine. Besides, Frisk, you haven’t met your _new big brothers_.” I said cheekily as Papy’s face lit up.

            “OH! THAT IS RIGHT, TINY HUMAN FRISK! YOU ARE NOW MY YOUNGEST SIBLING!.... YOU ARE YOUNGER THAN TUMBLE, CORRECT?” Frisk nodded like they weren’t entirely caught up with what was going on. _Revenge is sweet indeed._ I laughed and headed out back to the Ruins.

\--The End is a phrase found, well, at the end of a story. It is the most easily recognized and most appropriate way to end a story. Particularly a bed time story… but this isn’t a bed time story, is it?—

            I tried to drag my feet through the snow drifts in Snowdin, but eventually, I made my way back to the Ruins. I knew this was coming. We had agreed that it was the best way, after all… but I still felt an echo of pain in my heart at what I’d have to do. My footsteps were silent as I made my way back through mom’s house and to the bed of golden flowers where Asriel was waiting. I stood for a moment, deeply unsure of what to do.

            “…hey, goat bro.” Asriel turned around, his first instinct to smile, before it fell flat.

            “Howdy… Tumble. Ready to bring Chara back?” I nodded and brought out the locket that Chara’s broken SOUL was put inside for the duration of this timeline. A broken SOUL colored a dark red drifted up, the missing pieces filled in with a pearly rainbow color until I could take out the parts from Asriel… after all, he was still here because of DETERMINATION, wasn’t he?

            “Okay now, Asriel. Just… uh, bring out your SOUL.” An inverted white SOUL floated up. It was translucent, likely to fade away within a few hours along with his true form, but still there. The only semi-solid parts of his SOUL were the red chips scattered throughout. They shined brightly as they drifted back to their actual home within Chara. With a final flash of light, Chara was back.

            Or rather, a ghostly form of Chara was back. Ruby red eyes welled up with tears as they ran over and embraced Asriel. Good. I was kind of afraid that they wouldn’t be solid enough for it. Asriel and Chara cried, their grip tightening around each other. I felt like I was intruding in a private moment. Awkward and unsure, I did the first thing that came to mind.

            “Uh… it’s probably a little cold, but I don’t suppose you two have room for a little bit of Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie, do you?” they both looked up at me in surprise and laughed.

            “That’s a wonderful idea!” Asriel exclaimed as I moved forward and brought out said pie from my inventory. I brought out the extra forks mom packed and handed one to Asriel and Chara. Chara seemed surprised that they could even hold the fork, but didn’t seem unhappy when they shoveled in bite of pie. We all quietly ate away at the pie until there was nothing left. I put away the dishes and looked at the two of them. Chara seemed slightly more solid, but more tired for sure. Asriel looked even more tired. Chara crawled over laid down with their head in my lap with Asriel hesitating a moment before joining them. Chara let out a big yawn before looking up at me.

            “I know that I’ve put you through a lot, Tumble… but… could you sing us to sleep? Like you do for Frisk?” I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled.

            “Of c-course… I’m your elder sibling, aren’t I?” Chara and Asriel looked a little surprised as they blinked away tears. _At least I’m not the only one about to bawl like a baby._ I cleared my throat as Asriel and Chara clasped their hands together in front of me, their free hands lightly gripping my shirt. I leaned back and laid down among the golden flowers. The rested their heads against my chest, listening to the steady thrum of my heart. Their clasped hands now resting over my diaphragm as their other hands grasped my sleeves. I pulled my arms around their backs and gently began brushing the hair/fur of their heads.

            “I-I’m so sorry, Tumble… for everything.” I chuckled a little.

            “It’s okay…j-just close your eyes.” I could actually feel their comforting weight lifting as they began to fade away.

_“I know there’s something in the wake of your smile,_

_I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yeah._

_You’ve built a love, but that love falls apart._

_Your little piece of heaven turns too dark._

_Listen to your heart,_

_When he’s calling for you._

_Listen to your heart,_

_There’s nothing else you can do._

_I don’t know where you’re going,_

_And I don’t know why._

_But listen to your heart, before you tell him goodbye…_

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile._

_The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah._

_They’re swept away and nothing is what it seems,_

_The feeling of belonging,_

_To your dreams._

_Listen to your heart,_

_When he’s calling for you._

_Listen to your heart,_

_There’s nothing else you can do._

_I don’t know where you’re going and I don’t know why,_

_But listen to your heart,_

_Before you tell him goodbye._

_And there are voices that want to be heard._

_So much to mention, but you can’t find the words._

_The sense of magic, the beauty that’s been._

_When love was wilder, than the wind._

_Listen to your heart,_

_When he’s calling for you._

_Listen to your heart,_

_There’s nothing else you can do._

_I don’t know where you’re going and I don’t know why,_

_But listen to you heart, before you tell him goodbye._

_Listen to your heart,_

_When he’s calling for you._

_Listen to your heart,_

_There’s nothing else you can do._

_I don’t know where you’re going and I don’t know why,_

_But listen to your heart,_

_Before you tell him… goodbye.”_

            I felt tears stream down my face as I watched the last of the dust swirl up to the sky with little pieces of yellow and red. Now that I was alone, I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I brought my hands to my face, not caring about the dust and pollen, and cried out into the emptiness around me.

\--“Rest in Peace, both Prince and Thief” (RIP Everyone by JJ Demon)—

            I walked back up to the group with a plain white button up from the bottom of my bag and my face scrubbed clean of tears, pollen, and dust. My eyes weren’t red anymore, but I did feel a lot lighter than before. Frisk bounded over to me and grabbed my hand. I laughed and swung them up onto my hip. They were a little big for it, but I could carry them like this just fine.

            “Alright, who’s ready to see the sunlight?... well, assuming it’s still daytime. It’s kind of hard to tell down here.” a small spattering of laugher heralded our walk through to the surface. It was still daylight, actually, it seemed to be the sunrise. I heard small noises of appreciation as everyone took in their first breath of fresh air for the first time in a thousand years.

            “It’s so beautiful…” mom said as Asgore shyly grabbed her hand. She smiled softly before turning towards the sun again.

            “SANS! WHAT IS THAT GIANT BALL OF LIGHT?!”

            “that’s what we call ‘the sun’ paps.”

            “OH… I’M GOING TO FIGHT IT!” I let out a startled laugh.

            “Please refrain from going AWOL at the sun, papy. The surface kind of needs that…”

            “Yeah, punk! Don’t break the surface when we just got here!” Undyne exclaimed.

            “Tumble… I’d hate to ask this of you, but would you mind being our ambassador?” Asgore asked. Mom seemed conflicted between agreeing that it was a good idea and arguing that I shouldn’t do it.

            “That’s fine with me… which reminds me, you guys might want to hold off on charging through the nearest city and town for a bit. I need to make sure I can get you guys a place to stay… uh, you’re currency… is it real gold?” I wasn’t sure how to ask, but I really needed to know.

            “Yes. It was the easiest to find in the mountain, though a little soft, so we just used magic to make it more durable and made them into coins.” I pulled out a gold coin and looked closely at it. Hmm… about the size and weight of a quarter with the delta rune on both sides. Yeah… yeah, I think I can work with this. I mean, I have plenty of it, and with gold prices as they are…

            “Alright, I should have some land secured in my name by the end of the week. I’m not sure how well humanity will take you guys resurfacing again, so you’ll have to bear with hanging around here and my house for a bit longer. I’m sorry that you can’t just move out of the mountain right now, but considering how well we handle people with a different skin color…. Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Asgore and mom nodded their heads in understanding.

            “We understand. If you think it is best to wait before integrating, then we shall wait. I will not have innocent monsters hurt because they could not wait. We are free now. That’s all that matters.” I let out a chuckle.

            “Well… this is the USA. If there was any place that phrase would take you places, it would probably be here… anyway, you guys ready to see my house? I’ll have to go to the city for a couple of hours to get a feel with my contacts about getting that land, but I can make sure you all know where you can go to visit. You can even watch after Frisk… speaking of, you have some homework to do, don’t ‘cha squirt?” Frisk made a face at that and everyone laughed. As I looked at the small group of monsters that were suddenly my family, I felt as though I could do anything. After all this time, I wasn’t alone, and neither was Frisk.

            _First things first… time to see if I can buy a mountain._

 

 

Shortly After and During-Tale

            Grillby and Gaster sat down, sipping away at a vaguely alcoholic drink.

            _“[You know, I didn’t remember you for the longest time… but I still watched out for your boys. Most of the town seems to be under the impression that they were just here one day.]”_ Gaster looked at Grillby and smiled.

            “[Thank you… I’m glad someone was able to watch over them for me… they’re so big now… especially Papyrus… just… wow.]” Grillby laughed.

            _“[Yeah, he shot up within the span of a year. I think I still have pictures somewhere of Sans’ face when Papyrus rubbed it in that he was now the taller of the two.]”_ the two of them laughed for a bit before letting out a sigh.

            “[So… what are your plans now that the underground is free?]”

            _“[I think I’ll see about setting up a place on the surface after everyone moves out. I mean, there’s only two restaurants down here. Mettaton’s and mine… if you want… I mean, if you aren’t too busy with your science stuff, you can come by some time. Who knows, I might even hire you as a waiter… provided you can walk across a room without tripping.]”_ Gaster choked on his drink and Grillby laughed harder. Gaster’s face grew dark, yet darker.

            “[I-I thought we agreed never to speak of that?!]” Grillby only laughed harder. Papyrus didn’t take long to get used to his long legs, but Gaster, on the other hand…

\--Puberty is when you wake up one morning and realize that none of your clothes fit like they should.—

            Sans walked besides Tumble and Frisk down the mountain.

            “i really appreciate _onions_ …” Tumble looked at Sans questioningly.

            “Sorry, what was that?”

            “ _thekursed_ …”

            “The hell are you talking about, Sans?”

            “just a _glitch_ …”

            “Uh… is this a random word game? Like, am I supposed to say something like… I don’t know… _candyninja101_?”

            “hinkaru…”

            “Um… _fakeivy? Qwerty224?_ Ok… seriously, Sans, what the hell is this even?”

            “ _the_ _ _l1985_ … _shauna_.”

            “Okay, that first one was so not a word…”

            “Oh! I wanna play! _L_! _A sweet taste of faith_!”

            “… _SolemnlySociopathic_ … is this really a game?” Papyrus moved forward with excitement.

            “OH! I KNOW ONE! _ALOEPLANT!_ ”

            “that’s the spirit paps. luna.” Sans seemed to radiate smugness. The fucking bastard.

            “God damnit…. Um… _Random+Person_ … how the hell is that even pronounced?”

            “you just said it.”

            “You know what I mean, prick!”

            “ _ZARAVAN_!”

            “ _CallaCaptor_!” Frisk giggled. Tumble looked ready to throw something.

            “ _marina_.”

            “ _WNDRFLIDEA_!”

            “Uh… bless you, Papy…”

            “I MEAN _MUVEMUSE!_ ”

            “ _Lunammoon_!”

            “ _ARCHERSTABBYSTAB_!”

            “OKAY! Now I know you guys are making shit up, the hell is going on?!”

            “ _Writeswithfeatherquills!_ ” Papyrus was not to be outdone.

            “ _randomlittlegirly._ there… that should be all of them.”

            “AW! BUT I WASN’T DONE!” Tumble looked over at Sans.

            “The fucking hell are you talking about, you little shit?!”

            “Just wanting to get the thanks out of the way for everyone that spoke up… _kudos to everyone else too_.”

            “Sans… I am about to beat your ass! THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT WITH THAT TONE OF PUN?!” Sans started to laugh as Tumble reached for him. He was surprisingly quick to get out of the way.

            “heh, maybe in the sequel…”

            “WHAT FUCKING SEQUEL YOU LITTLE SHIT? THE ONE WHERE I KILL YOU?!”

            “nah, that would be cruel after everything that happened in this one. Bye!” Sans dashed off with Tumble right behind him.

            “GET THE FUCK BACK HERE, SANS!” Toriel caught up with Papyrus and Frisk.  

            “I thought I heard Tumble… did something happen?” Frisk and Papyrus giggled and shook their heads.

            “NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH! IT IS JUST SANS BEING HIMSELF.” Toriel giggled as well.

            “Well… as long as everything is alright…”

            “It is, Goat Mom!” Frisk said with a laugh as a shriek of fear resounded ahead of them… well, looks like Tumble finally caught up to Sans.

            “KID, HAVE MERCY!”

            “THERE WILL BE NO MERCY! DIE, YOU LITTLE _PUN_ K!” loud giggling reached their ears as Sans was promptly tickled to ‘death’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note in case it was hard to spot, the last bit between Gaster and Grillby was canon to this particular story, but the part after that was not. That was more of a fun way for me to thank everyone who commented and left /kudos/... damn I felt so fucking clever after that. I'm not solid on plot for the sequel but I will leave an update for when I put it up, in case you guys clear up your subscriptions after the story is completed. I had so much fucking fun, seriously. This is the fastest I've ever completed a story and the longest. Just.... jesus Christ, I love you guys. Oh, right, and uh... Heroshand... you were there too, you probably didn't miss it, I mean, it wasn't exactly subtle or anything, but you were referred to as the 'onion' that Sans liked... feel free to blush and giggle at the sight of a love struck Sans looking at an onion or whatever.
> 
> I may take a bit of a break, I mean, I've been going through this in a straight run, but I can't imagine it'll be long. I've really enjoyed writing this, I really have. As a last note, if you comment now and you haven't before, you're name will not magically appear at the end... just... I ain't stalking the comments to keep the chapter totally up to date dude. Just... no. So, yeah. I'm super glad everyone here (this chapter) really seemed to like Tumble and my story too! You'll see more of Tumble, I promise! As soon as I figure out what I want to do in terms of a plot besides making sure monsters aren't totally dunked on by shitty humans and politics and shit.


	43. Sequel Is Up

Just letting you guys know that the sequel to this is now up. You should see a neat little link to it somewhere on this work's description! Thanks for waiting for me to catch my breath, so to speak! Might even have that Harry Potter crossover put out in a little bit, who knows. Anyway, it's called "Dust Yourself Off", and it's mostly not supposed to be ominous, I swear.


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